WEBVTT

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Alright, let's take our notes and take our Bibles and turn to the fourth chapter of the book of James this morning, James and chapter number four.

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James chapter number four.

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As a way of encouragement, I teach from my iPad, and I have a little app that I use that scrolls through my notes easily.

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And so far we are two hundred and sixty pages into our series.

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Can you imagine that?

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Pat yourself on the back.

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You've come a long way with me.

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And uh that's awesome.

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We're teaching tonight.

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You're welcome to come be with us at 6:30 in Mark chapter number two.

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And uh the story of four men bringing their invalid friend to Jesus, tearing off the roof, lowering him to the Lord Jesus.

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And here's here's uh the men's lesson your miracle is their miracle.

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You know, when God does a miracle through you, he always allows others to be a part of it.

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And uh when God works in your heart, he inevitably works in someone else's heart to bring his uh his will and healing to their life.

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I'm almost there.

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The only part about this app I don't like, I have to scroll through them page by page.

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And so there we go.

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All right, I'm ready.

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Are you ready?

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Okay, what's what's taking you so long?

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Okay, here we go.

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Verse 13, chapter 4.

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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.

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Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life?

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It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.

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For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that.

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But now ye rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

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Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin.

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Now, in all fairness, I'm giving a whole week to verse 17 next week.

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That verse fascinates me.

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We're going to be in verses 13 through 16 this morning, and I want to speak on this the idea of presumption or the sin of presumption.

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In this passage, James is really describing some first-century businessmen who had their whole life figured out.

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They knew where they were going, they knew when they would return, they knew what they would accomplish and had already budgeted for their success.

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And it was not that they made a plan, not for the reason that they had made plans that James writes them.

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James writes them because they made plans in their lives and had no thought of God.

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James is uh, he's like a spiritual roller coaster, right?

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We think we're going this way, and wow, we're going this way.

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And then we get into this flow, and wow, we're we're zigging and zagging back this way.

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And so he's talking about presumption in this passage, and now he brings it into the business world.

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And I want us to uh easily outline this passage by first of all talking about the sin of presumption.

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That's in verse 13.

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Go to now.

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He's saying, Come now, get with it, focus, think this through.

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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.

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Now we know that in the first century, James is talking about three kinds of merchants.

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There were Greek mariners who traveled the seas, there were sea and caravan traders, and then there were travelers who combined business and leisure.

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Whatever the case is of these men he's talking about in verse number 13, he's describing men that make plans without God.

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Now notice four things that involve their plan in verse 13.

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First of all, they knew where they were going.

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Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city.

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Now, this is very specific.

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As if they're pointing at a map.

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This is where we're going.

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We know exactly where we're going.

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Secondly, they knew how long they would be gone.

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Look at it there.

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Today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city and continue there a year.

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They knew where they were going.

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They knew how long they would be gone.

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Number three, they knew what they would be doing when they arrived.

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We're going to buy and sell.

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This is exactly what we're going to spend all of our time doing.

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Now, how many of you are minute by minute vacation planners?

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Will you raise your hand?

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You are minute by minute.

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They're one of you.

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God bless all one of you.

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No, okay.

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Anybody?

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Who is the freelance, free spirit?

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Just go where the wind blows, you vacation kind of person.

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Okay?

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Okay, some of you didn't vote.

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How many of you say I have plans, but I'm welcome to change them if that's okay.

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There's more of you there.

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Okay.

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So this fella here has so micromanaged his time.

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He knows where he's going.

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He knows how long he'll be gone.

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He knows what he's going to be doing when he arrives.

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And number four, uh, he knows to what extent he will be successful.

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Notice it again, verse 13.

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He'll go and buy and sell and get gain.

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Now, in each case, this is really important to interpret this passage, in each of these four cases, James uses a future tense verb.

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We will.

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We will go into the city, we will be gone for about a year, we will buy and sell, and we will get gain.

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These are our future plans.

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So looking out over the landscape of their lives, they had it all figured out, but they left one thing, or shall I say, they left one person out.

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Ecclesiastes describes the life of Solomon, who very much lived that way, only to discover that life without God is what?

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It's vanity.

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Ecclesiastes 2.1, I said in my heart, go to now, I will prove thee with mirth.

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Therefore enjoy pleasure.

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And behold, this also is vanity.

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I was in a counseling session this week, and I said to a man, I said, Solomon said that a living dog is better than a dead lion.

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And he said, Can you say that again?

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I said, A living dog is better than a dead lion.

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Whoa, he said, that's profound.

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He said, Who said that?

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I said, Solomon.

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Do you know?

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And if I'm correct, Solomon, I think, had a thousand and five of those expressions.

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He had lived with extensive knowledge and pleasure and gain and possessions, and we know his affinity for women.

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He lived that precise, pleasureful life.

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And Solomon comes to the end of it in conclusion in Ecclesiastes and said, Life under the sun without the sun is vanity and pride.

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So I want us to review these four plans that they had and include God into them.

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Number one, they thought they knew where they were going, but it is God who guides where we ought to go.

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Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, we know these verses, right?

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Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not into thine own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy past.

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Psalm 37, 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

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He delighteth in his way.

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Again, I was speaking regarding the Corinthian church and Paul's coming into Macedonia.

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Acts chapter 16, verse 7, and they, being Paul and Silas, were come to Messiah.

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They essayed to go into Bithynia.

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They were going to go to the northeast.

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But the spirit suffered them not.

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And they passing by Mysia came down to Troaz, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

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There stood a man in Macedonia and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us come southwest.

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They wanted to go northeast, God sends them southwest.

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Number one, we discovered that it is God who guides where we ought to go.

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Somebody said, We make our plans and God laughs.

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Again, he's not saying we shouldn't make plans.

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He's saying that we should prayerfully consider our plans and allow the Lord to guide our lives.

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This is bringing God into the equation of our life.

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Number two, they said that they knew exactly how long they would be gone.

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But the Bible says God holds our days in his hands.

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Psalm 89, verse 47, remember how short my time is.

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Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

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Job 9, verse 25 says, Now my days are swifter than a post.

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They flee away, they see no good.

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They are passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.

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God holds our days in his hands.

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Number three, they said they knew exactly what they would be doing when they arrived.

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But the Bible says that God determines what we shall do.

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Proverbs 16, verse 9, a man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.

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And number four, they said that they knew to what extent they would be successful.

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They would buy and sell and get gain.

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Oh, but the Bible says God provides meaningful expression for our work.

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Deuteronomy 8:18, but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he swear unto thy fathers as it is this day.

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And then Paul says to the Corinthian church, 1 Corinthians 4, 7, for who maketh thee to differ from another?

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And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?

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Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it?

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So again, James is not attacking preparation.

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Rather, he is warning against presumption.

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On each of these four steps, these people had given no regard for God, and that's the problem.

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It is that we can live our whole lives, if we can live our whole life without God, rest assured that we are not doing God's work.

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Psalm 127, verse 1.

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Except the Lord build the house.

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They labor in vain, but build it.

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Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh, but in vain.

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I was watching an interview of Tim Tebow.

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You all know Tim Tebow.

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Tim Tebow is a missionary kid.

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He grew up in the Philippines.

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And then finished his education in the Jacksonville area.

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Went on to be Heisman-winning quarterback, two-time national championship quarterback for the Florida Gators.

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And I grew up hating the Florida Gators, but I love Tim Tebow.

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Tebow had a short NFL career.

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I think the one thing you can't do in the NFL is kneel in prayer before the game.

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And he was blacklisted and his career was really shortened.

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But there's a fellow that catches multimillionaires and billionaires on the street and asks him a series of questions.

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He's on social media.

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So this guy catches up with Tim Tebow.

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He says, Sir, can I ask you a question?

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He said, When did you make your first million?

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He talked about it.

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How much do you think you're worth?

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Probably$50 million.

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Okay.

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And he was talking to him about his belief system and why he lives his life.

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And Tebow now has given really almost all of his attention to the issue of human trafficking, sex trafficking.

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Tim Tebow is a great human being.

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And Tebow said this.

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He said, the greatest failures in life are successes in things that do not matter.

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Isn't that powerful?

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The greatest success failures in life are successes in things that do not matter.

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Now he got a hold of something, didn't he?

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We can plan our work, but let's work in God's plan.

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Marie's pastor used to always say, We grow up saying, I want to know God's will for my life.

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And he said, we ought to turn it around.

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We ought to give our life for God's will.

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The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but long-suffering, not willing that any would perish, but all should come to repentance.

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It is the will of God, even your sanctification, you flee from fornication.

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If we'd give ourselves to God's will, we'd find ourselves in the midst of so many joys and things that actually matter with our lives.

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I love Psalm 124, verse 1.

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If it had not been the Lord who was on our side.

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Now may Israel say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us.

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The commentator said of this passage, the divine will had been left out of this formula entirely, just as it was left out of the compulsion to judge others in the previous verse.

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Here's what he says Time and space belong only to God, and thus all the features necessary for human action are dependent on him.

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And then he concluded with this without trust in God, these believers become nearly indistinguishable from the wicked who take no account of God.

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We as Christians want to attack radical atheism, don't we?

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Radical atheism.

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You know, one of the great persistent problems in our world today is not radical atheism, but practical atheism.

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Not the espousal that there is no God, but living as if he doesn't exist.

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And that's what James is addressing here.

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Go to now.

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Listen.

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Sit up, pay attention, think about this, he says.

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We will go this place and do this thing and be involved in this activity and receive this compensation.

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Whereas, verse 14, ye know not what shall be on the morrow.

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Famous verse.

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For what is your life?

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It is even a vapor.

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It appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.

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We saw the sin of presumption.

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But secondly, notice the shortness of our lives.

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The shortness of our lives.

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And he makes he makes three not statements here.

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There's three not statements.

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Number one, you know not, is the first statement.

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You don't know.

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You don't know.

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I remember I was in high school chapel, and just a poignant illustration.

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I just I remember it.

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And the preacher had a long string.

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It went from one side of the sanctuary to the other side of the sanctuary.

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And he called up three volunteers to help him.

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And he had affixed the string to that end of the room, and he'd affixed the string to the other side of the room, and he gave three paper clips and he said, That's the day you were born, and that's the day you die.

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And let's suppose that's zero and that's a hundred years.

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Now I want you to go and I want you to take your clothespin and I want you to put it where you think you are.

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Birth and death.

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I want you to put it where you think you are on the timeline.

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The fact is, all three of them are wrong.

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Why?

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We don't know the number of days we have, as it is appointed unto men, once to die, and after this the judgment.

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You know not, he says, what shall be on the morrow.

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Now remember, our four verbs in verse 13 are all in the future tense.

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Remember me saying that to you?

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Okay.

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Now notice verse 14.

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Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, he brings them back to the present tense verb.

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He pulls them out of the future, he brings them back into the present.

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You do not currently know, he says, what will happen tomorrow.

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There's a few songs that just make me super reminiscent of my childhood.

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And here's one of them.

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Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand, but I know who holds tomorrow, and I know he holds my hand.

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It's exactly what James is saying here.

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It's what Jesus said too in Matthew chapter 6.

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Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed, for after all these things that the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

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But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

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Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

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Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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He's saying, get out of the future and start living in the present, viewing God as the dictator of the future, not your own plans as dictating your entire life.

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You don't know, you know not.

00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:42.559
The second not statement, he says, you are not.

00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:43.920
What are you not?

00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:44.960
Look at it.

00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:46.880
What is your life?

00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.920
It is even a vapor.

00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:52.799
You are not limitless.

00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:54.559
You are finite.

00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.519
A puff of smoke is the word here.

00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:03.119
The word vapor speaks of the steam from a kettle which the wind quickly drives away.

00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:06.640
What a vivid picture of the brevity of life.

00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:07.839
It vanishes away.

00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:12.000
The word means to render invisible, to become unrecognizable.

00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:13.440
The passing of time.

00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.240
It just so quickly disappears.

00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:22.079
Job 5.7, yet man is born unto trouble as the spark fly upward.

00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.240
Man that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble.

00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.519
You're not limitless.

00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:28.640
Now watch.

00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:34.960
Everyone has to come to that day in their life when they recognize they are limited in their power.

00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:37.519
That's good.

00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:41.519
Oh man, I'm not infinite.

00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:44.559
I'm not limitless.

00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:46.000
That's good.

00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:47.680
You know why that's good?

00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:56.480
You can't fully appreciate how God is eternal and immutable and immortal and infinite and transcendent.

00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:01.359
You can't appreciate who God is until you recognize who you are.

00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:07.680
Once you recognize your limitation, you lean into God's limitlessness.

00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:12.960
When you lean into your mortality, you discover how awesome is His immortality.

00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:19.920
When you lean into the fact that our lives change, you lean into that great theological word, He is immutable.

00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:21.440
He never changes.

00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.519
And that's the problem in pride.

00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:29.839
We place all of our lives and all of our dreams and all of our goals and ambitions in our own selves.

00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:35.920
I was talking to a family this week about dual enrollment, is one of the real issues of our day today.

00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.680
Maybe some of your grandchildren are dual enrolled in high school and college.

00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:41.599
You guys know what I'm talking about.

00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:46.240
So you can take a lot of college courses in high school now.

00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:51.599
I've known young people that graduated high school with a two-year AA when they graduated high school.

00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:58.319
I knew a girl who was wanting to pursue international business who did that very thing.

00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:14.720
She went to um Belmont University in Nashville, graduated college, and she had raced so far ahead of herself that she was, upon graduation with an international business degree, she was too young to work in the field.

00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:25.200
And I was talking to my friend about this, and I thought, you know, when a young person graduates high school, they have so much pressure on them of what they're supposed to do with the rest of their lives.

00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:27.279
What a ridiculous pressure.

00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.920
Do you guys know what you're going to do with the rest of your lives?

00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:32.240
Like people say, what do you want to be when you grow up?

00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:34.240
I don't, I said, I don't know, I'll let you know.

00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:36.559
What are your 10-year plans, Pastor?

00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:37.279
I said, I don't know.

00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:38.240
I have a 10-minute plan.

00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:39.680
It's working really, really well.

00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:45.759
But the point is, bringing God into the present of our lives.

00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:49.440
I am weak, but thou art strong.

00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:51.680
Jesus, keep me from all wrong.

00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.079
I'll be satisfied as long as I walk.

00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:55.759
Let me walk close to thee.

00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.000
Just a closer walk with thee.

00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:00.400
You are not limitless.

00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:01.759
You are finite.

00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:06.400
And this is wonderful because in our weakness he becomes strong.

00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.039
I quote Pastor Sexton every week.

00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:09.839
I'm going to do it now.

00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:10.480
Are you ready?

00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:14.880
He would say, There is a strength that makes us weak.

00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:18.880
And there's a weakness that makes us strong.

00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:29.200
Paul said, Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:35.920
Except I'm not strong, in my weakness Jesus becomes my strength.

00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:37.519
You know not.

00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:38.240
You are not.

00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:39.839
Number three, you say not.

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.559
Now this takes us into verse 15.

00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:44.559
For that ye ought to say.

00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:48.559
This is a good Christian colloquialism, isn't it?

00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:50.559
This just makes for good Christianity.

00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:54.160
Well, if the Lord will, good Lord's a willing in the creek don't rise.

00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:54.720
Okay.

00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:56.880
Do we mean that?

00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:57.759
Right?

00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.759
James again comes back to.

00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.680
The present tense verb.

00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:07.039
For that ye ought to say, speak this to yourselves.

00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:14.720
Ye ought to be saying, if the Lord allows, if the Lord desires, this is what, this is what we hope to do.

00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:16.240
Now, watch this.

00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:23.039
Verse 15, you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.

00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.799
Now, what tense did he go back to?

00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.559
He's back to the future.

00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:38.160
Except the man looking to the future in verse 15 is different than the man looking to the future in verse 13 because he made one great change.

00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:39.920
What did he do?

00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:42.640
Oh, he brought God into it.

00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:46.720
We ought to bring God into our way of thinking.

00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.359
I want to show you something here.

00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:53.039
We're going to come back here to James, but go to the Old Testament with me.

00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.440
I've been working through the Old Testament.

00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:59.440
I'm in Deuteronomy in my chronological reading.

00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:01.200
I was there this morning.

00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:05.920
I was recently in Leviticus, but we're going to start in Exodus really quickly here.

00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.160
Exodus chapter 33.

00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.359
Now, this is this is one of my favorite Bible stories.

00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:18.559
Moses is the leader of the people, and he's in the mountain with God.

00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:30.160
God's giving him the Ten Commandments and not just the Ten Commandments, he's giving them the civil, dietary, religious law, he's giving them the sacrificial system, he's giving him the pattern of the tabernacle.

00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:37.200
And Moses is in the mountain with God, and the people are down at the base of the mountain waiting on Moses, and they they became bored.

00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:40.799
An idle mind became the devil's workshop.

00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:48.240
And they had all of this gold that the Egyptians had thrown at them when they released them on the night of Passover.

00:23:49.119 --> 00:24:02.319
And so the people were bored, and Aaron took up an offering, and he makes one of the more incredulous statements of the Bible that he had all of this jewelry and he put it into the fire and out came a golden calf.

00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:04.880
Just a magical, magical thing.

00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:07.599
Well, the golden calf was actually an apus bull.

00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:10.240
That was one of the gods that was worshipped in Egypt.

00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:16.400
And when God put a moraine on the cattle, he was addressing one of the gods that they worshiped instead of Jehovah.

00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:21.279
So it wasn't just an animate object, it was an Egyptian symbol of worship.

00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:24.400
And they bowed down to it and angered Moses.

00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:28.799
On this occurrence, he broke the commandments.

00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.440
You cannot obey the Lord's voice, he says.

00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:39.680
And now the children of Israel are in a real struggle because it seems as if Moses and Jehovah are mad at God at the same time.

00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:46.720
And so God says to Moses in this passage, I tell you what, I'll just choose another people and you can lead them into the promised land.

00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:48.240
Oh, no, no, no, no.

00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:49.680
No, no, no.

00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:51.519
We don't want that to happen.

00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:58.079
And so God gives Moses assurance that he'll go with him.

00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.160
And this is Moses' heart.

00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:08.480
Notice in verse 14 of chapter 33, and he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:09.920
I'm going with you.

00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:14.720
The journey to Canaan will involve the person of God.

00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:19.519
It's the New Testament word for Holy Spirit is Paraclete, one who goes beside.

00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:23.200
Aren't you glad we have a comforter that walks beside us in our lives?

00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:24.319
I'll go with you.

00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:25.839
Verse 15.

00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:34.000
And he said unto him, this is Moses saying to God, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up.

00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:38.400
Hence, if you're not with me, I can't go.

00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:41.759
If you're not with me, I won't go.

00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:45.839
There's a new fellow here at church, and he's been asking me to sing a song.

00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:48.160
I'm eventually, I think Sunday's my last chance.

00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:49.920
So please remind me.

00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:55.440
It wants me to sing the old song, I can't even walk without you holding my hand.

00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:58.079
If you're not going with me, I don't want to go up.

00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.759
Because if you're not with me, we'll certainly be we'll be defeated.

00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:03.599
Alright, now let's go to Numbers.

00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:05.119
Numbers chapter 14.

00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:11.839
Now, Numbers, in Numbers we have the story of the spies that go out to investigate the land of Canaan.

00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:14.720
Twelve spies went to the land of Canaan.

00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.119
Ten were bad and two were good.

00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.200
What did they find in the land of Canaan?

00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.039
Ten were bad and two were good.

00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:28.720
Some saw clusters, some saw giants big and strong, some saw clusters, great vines long.

00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.160
Some saw God was in it all, ten were bad and two were good.

00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:34.079
Okay, you know that story.

00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:47.680
Well, this disheartens the people, and because of their sin, they've now foisted a whole generation of Hebrews who are going to die in the wilderness because of their doubt and the promises of God.

00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:54.480
But Caleb and Jephunah and everybody under 20, they're going to see the promise of God.

00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:58.160
Not even Moses is going to see the promise of God.

00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:00.720
So look at verse 43.

00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:06.400
Look at verse 40 for context.

00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:08.799
So we have some disbelieving people.

00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:12.240
And God has said, because of their doubt, they're not going into the promised land.

00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:14.960
And they said, well, okay, we'll see about that.

00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:28.720
They rose up early in the morning, verse 40, gather them up into the top of the mountain, and saying, Lo, we be here, and we'll go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised, for we have sinned.

00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:30.559
Well, we're already here.

00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:33.519
Now God said we're not going in, but we're already here.

00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:36.480
Let's just go in and see the promise.

00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:44.480
And Moses said, verse 41, Wherefore now do you transgress the commandment of the Lord, but it shall not prosper.

00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:46.319
Go not up.

00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:50.480
Here's the phrase: go not up, for the Lord is not among you.

00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:54.880
That ye be not smitten before your enemies.

00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:59.759
Now this mirrors exactly what Moses said earlier in Exodus 33.

00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:01.839
If you're not going, don't carry me up.

00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:07.359
They said, God has not promised us to see it, but we're already here.

00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:08.160
Let's go look at it.

00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:13.200
And Moses says, if you go up without the presence of God, what's going to happen?

00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:15.039
He says, You're going to die.

00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:16.480
Verse 43.

00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:26.960
For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword because you are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you.

00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:29.680
Oh, there's that word.

00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:32.240
But they presumed.

00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:37.039
They presumed to go up into the hilltop.

00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:44.079
We're going to go up, we're going to come back, we're going to do this or that, we're going to get gain.

00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:50.160
Nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses departed not out of the camp.

00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:59.279
The Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that land and smote them and discomfited them even unto Horam.

00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:02.160
Why were they defeated?

00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:04.480
The Lord wasn't with them.

00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:10.480
For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall.

00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:14.480
But if the Lord will not, we shouldn't try.

00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:20.880
We should only live by acts of faith and motion which the Lord desires.

00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:23.039
Let me give you the last point here.

00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:24.880
The sin of presumption.

00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.359
The sin of presumption, the shortness of our lives.

00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:34.240
Number three, the silliness of glorying in anything but Jesus.

00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:35.680
Let's go back to James.

00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:38.079
Verse 16.

00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:42.240
But now the present tense.

00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.480
Ye rejoice in your boastings.

00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:50.400
All such rejoicing is evil.

00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:51.920
What is the boasting?

00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.720
Planning, success, gaining without God.

00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:58.160
We don't need God.

00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:01.759
Come in, Savior, and go out, Lord.

00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:03.200
That's what Vance Havner used to say.

00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:05.440
Most Christians say, Come in, Savior, go out, Lord.

00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:06.400
Everybody wants a savior.

00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:07.680
Nobody wants a Lord.

00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:11.519
Why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?

00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:18.400
Boasting in life without Christ, the silliness of glorying in anything but Jesus.

00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:23.680
Now let me say to you as we close, boasting does have a place in the Christian life.

00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:27.200
Did you know that?

00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:30.240
Boasting has a place in your life and mine.

00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:35.680
Where we place our glory, though, is really all that matters.

00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:40.960
Psalm 34, verse 2, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord.

00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:45.440
Psalm 44, verse 8, in God we boast all the day long.

00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.200
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:53.759
It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

00:30:54.559 --> 00:31:00.240
1 Corinthians 1 31, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, same word, boast.

00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:04.880
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:11.279
Again, he says, 2 Corinthians 10.17, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:19.359
Galatians 6.14, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.720
Boasting, though, has a way of going poorly.

00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:30.400
Luke 12, and he thought within himself, saying, You saw it, didn't you?

00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:32.000
What shall I do?

00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.559
What shall I do?

00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:41.279
The problem with spell check and word is if the word is spelled right and it's still the wrong word, it won't tell you the right word.

00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.599
It just makes sure the wrong word is spelled the right way.

00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:44.079
Okay.

00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:45.839
What shall I do?

00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:50.319
If your wife is gone poorly, okay, what shall I do?

00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:53.519
I have no room where to bestow my fruits.

00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:55.759
He said, This will I do.

00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:58.640
I will pull down my barns, I will build greater barns.

00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.640
There will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:04.720
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.

00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:07.119
Take thine ease, eat and drink, and be merry.

00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:11.039
But God said, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.

00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:27.359
Daniel chapter 4, the king spake and said, Nebuchadnezzar, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?

00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:42.480
While the word was in the king's mouth, there came a voice from heaven saying, Oh King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee.

00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:52.079
The silliness, the silliness of boasting in anything but Jesus.

00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:57.200
Think about the Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian church.

00:32:57.279 --> 00:32:58.960
It's foolish for me to boast.

00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:00.799
I don't want to boast.

00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:03.599
I don't want to defend he said who I am.

00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:04.720
An apostle.

00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:05.920
I've seen the Lord.

00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.279
I've been given revelations of the glory world.

00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:10.880
It's foolish for me to boast.

00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:12.880
It's foolish that you would make me.

00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:14.480
Why did he say that?

00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:23.200
He said that because he recognized the foolishness of boasting and anything that would make someone think Paul was something he was not.

00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:27.119
Paul called himself the chief of sinners.

00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:29.519
That's who he was.

00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:36.079
And if he boasted, he didn't want to boast in anything or anyone but Jesus.

00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:42.079
As we plan our lives, let's make sure we bring God into the equation.

00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:45.599
Where we should go, how long we should be there.

00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:50.960
Pastor Sexton used to say, people would tell him all the time, we're moving to such and such a town.

00:33:52.880 --> 00:34:07.680
And we've purchased a house and I have a job, and there's nice stores and malls, and he would say, Did you ever pray about Did you ever pray about finding a family, a faith to worship with?

00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:11.840
Did you even bring God at all into the equation?

00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:15.360
We need God to order our steps.

00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:21.360
And let's be spirit-led as we implement this passage into our lives.

00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.480
May we pray.

00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:24.159
Thank you so much for being here.

00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:25.039
We've had a great time.

00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:26.159
Don't forget.

00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:28.960
Now listen.

00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:39.679
If I find these empty candy wrappers all over the church, I'm gonna know a lamp and a light to our path.

00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:45.760
Well, I have 22 minutes if I'm gonna be true to my time here, so let's listen quickly today, okay?

00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:51.760
Let's go to James chapter 4, the Gospel of James, and chapter number four.

00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:57.360
I've been enjoying so much this series and what James has for us by way of advice.

00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:01.039
Last week he was talking about the sin of presumption, wasn't he?

00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:02.559
The sin of presumption.

00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:11.679
I'll go here and there and do this and that, and I'll come back and I'll have my pockets lined with cash and I'll have the strength to do that and the blessing of my journey.

00:35:11.840 --> 00:35:17.599
I have my whole life figured out, and that was okay to have plans, but it wasn't okay to have plans without God.

00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:25.599
You know, one of the dangers I see in the Christian life is the willingness to become a person who thinks we don't have to live by faith.

00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:29.039
We rest too often on our experience, don't we?

00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:31.360
But it is a walk of faith.

00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:32.639
It's a walk of faith.

00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:35.199
I remember hearing someone ask me this question years ago.

00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:38.880
What are you involved in right now that only God could finish?

00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:40.880
Isn't that a great question?

00:35:41.039 --> 00:35:42.639
I'm gonna ask you that question.

00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:46.480
What are you involved in right now that only God can finish?

00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:47.599
Because guess what?

00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:51.119
If we can finish it, it's probably not a faith.

00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:55.519
And so this sin of presumption, I will live my life without any thought of God.

00:35:55.679 --> 00:36:00.480
And he says to them, No, you need to be reminded of the brevity of life.

00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:04.320
As smoke ascends out of a kettle, driven away by the wind.

00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:05.599
That is the length of our life.

00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:06.480
What is your life?

00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:09.920
It's even a vapor, it appears for a little time and vanishes away.

00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:16.000
And then he says, What you ought to do is say, if the Lord will, we will do this or that.

00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:17.679
We'll have his blessing on it.

00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:21.679
We bring God into the equation of our lives.

00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:24.320
Now we come to verse 17.

00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:29.199
And as you read through this passage, you almost feel like this verse is a bit out of place.

00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:30.639
It's not out of place.

00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:36.719
It's kind of keeping along with this theme of not evil boasting and rejoicing, but living by faith.

00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:38.320
Notice what he says in verse 17.

00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:45.280
Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:46.800
Now, can we say that together?

00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:48.880
James chapter 4, verse 17.

00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:49.920
Ready to begin?

00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:56.000
Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

00:36:56.159 --> 00:36:57.599
Now I've got to warn you.

00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:01.039
You're gonna hear something in the message today.

00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:05.039
And after hearing it, if you don't do it.

00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:08.480
Say, is that a threat?

00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:09.840
No, it's a promise.

00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:15.199
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him, it is sin.

00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:19.119
I was studying, I was studying this verse.

00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:21.199
Where did this statement come from?

00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:24.559
Well, it's not found in the Old Testament.

00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:31.119
Some Bible commentators suggest it might have been an expression from the ancient world.

00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:50.400
Maybe loosely connected to the truth of Proverbs chapter number three, where it says, Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it, say not to thy neighbor, go and come again, and tomorrow I will give when thou hast it by thee.

00:37:50.880 --> 00:38:07.119
What James is really doing is connecting this statement with the truth of verse 14, where he's saying, Because you know the because you do not know the future of your life, if you know what you're supposed to do, do it now and do what's right.

00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:12.320
And in the moment when we know what's right and we don't do it to us, it is sin.

00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:16.880
Now, there's obviously here a connection to preaching.

00:38:17.199 --> 00:38:21.440
You now know what to do, and if you don't do it to you, it is sin.

00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:29.920
What Bob was saying to us as we started the service today is that we as Christians ought to find our place in a Bible-preaching church.

00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:34.079
The reason for that is God did not create us to live in isolation.

00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:35.840
We are sheep.

00:38:36.639 --> 00:38:38.800
The nature of sheep is community.

00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:48.000
And if you ever find a sheep alone on a distant hill, isolated and all by himself, you have found a sheep in great danger of harm.

00:38:48.239 --> 00:38:51.199
There's protection, not just in the community of other sheep.

00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:59.679
There's protection under the leadership of our great shepherd and an under-shepherd, according to Hebrews 13, that cares for our souls.

00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:03.840
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin.

00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:06.559
Well, there's three things I want you to notice in this little verse today.

00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:09.760
First of all, notice this is a statement of absolutes.

00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:12.960
Notice the absolute nature of this verse.

00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:17.360
Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin.

00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:19.599
First of all, he says it's a sin.

00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:20.880
That's an absolute statement.

00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:28.239
He says it's a perversion to know the truth, to walk in the light, to receive instruction from God and not to do it.

00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:28.960
It is sin.

00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:34.800
He doesn't call it a mistake, an error in judgment, a failure of moral turpitude.

00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:36.719
He says it is sin.

00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:41.920
There's a famous old book by, I think, Carl Menninger entitled, Whatever Happened to Sin?

00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:44.239
What did ever happen to sin?

00:39:44.559 --> 00:39:51.440
All right, we talk about addictions and diseases and foibles and scruples, and no, no, no.

00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:56.159
He says, no, it's it's a sin, and the wage of sin is death.

00:39:56.320 --> 00:40:00.400
Number two, it's it's a personal statement, therefore to him.

00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:06.480
Now, I want you to circle that expression, if not in your Bible, in your heart or your mind, therefore to him.

00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:09.519
And I want you to put your name in that verse.

00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:10.880
It's personal.

00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:17.280
In other words, God has given me an opportunity into the light of his truth.

00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:22.239
How many of you have been given opportunity to live in the light of God's truth?

00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:23.519
Will you raise your hand?

00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:28.400
Now, people often ask about degrees of separation or punishment in hell.

00:40:28.639 --> 00:40:34.559
And the fact is, the book of Revelation describes that the wicked are judged and the books are open.

00:40:34.800 --> 00:40:37.039
They're judged according to their deeds.

00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:43.440
Now, we as Christians stand at the Bemis seat and we're evaluated by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:45.280
He evaluates our lives.

00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:50.239
And the reason it's an evaluation is because we all have different opportunities.

00:40:50.559 --> 00:40:57.199
The New Testament word is dispensations, openings into the truth of God and the light of God.

00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:02.480
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin.

00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:04.960
God has been so good to me.

00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:08.880
He's been good to me.

00:41:09.679 --> 00:41:17.440
I remember I worked for a gentleman in Tampa who did not go to Bible college and didn't really grow up in church.

00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:29.039
He hired me because he needed someone to lead music and work with teenagers, but he hired me because I worked for someone he greatly respected, and he thought that I could teach him what I'd learned from my mentor.

00:41:29.119 --> 00:41:30.480
And I never forget what he said.

00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:33.119
He said, I've never had anyone mentor me.

00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:40.400
He said, I know that the greatest people I know, you've had access to them.

00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:42.480
Man, I'm so blessed.

00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:47.599
I was reared in a good Bible preaching church with a Bible preaching pastor.

00:41:47.760 --> 00:41:51.440
I had great teachers, great mentors, great friends.

00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:58.320
I still have great friends who provide encouragement and accountability in my life.

00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:01.599
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not.

00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:07.920
This is not a verse that we can poke our neighbor in the side and say, hey, he's talking to you today.

00:42:08.079 --> 00:42:10.239
No, I'm talking to all of us today.

00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:13.119
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good.

00:42:14.159 --> 00:42:16.159
And doeth it not to him, it is sin.

00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:22.800
And then he says, notice this third absolute saving, if he knoweth and doeth it not, it is, shall I say, preventable.

00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:29.599
Remember what we learned in the first chapter, verse 22, but be ye doers of the word and not, what's the word?

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:32.880
Hearers only, deceiving your own hearts.

00:42:33.119 --> 00:42:39.119
For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.

00:42:39.360 --> 00:42:45.119
For he beholdeth himself, he goeth his way, he straightway forgetteth what manner of man that he was.

00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:47.760
Now the word doeth.

00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:53.119
Here is found twice in our verse, to do good and doeth it not.

00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:56.320
There is a decision between doing and not doing.

00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:01.519
So it's a statement of absolutes.

00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:03.920
I think we'd all agree with that.

00:43:04.320 --> 00:43:08.719
Number two, it's a statement of omission to him that knoweth to do good.

00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:10.320
And what does it say?

00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:11.679
Doeth it not.

00:43:11.840 --> 00:43:18.320
Now, I don't think, I don't think, now, I I've heard people say, I've been a Christian 50 years, I've been a pastor 40 years.

00:43:18.480 --> 00:43:19.920
Nothing surprises me.

00:43:20.719 --> 00:43:22.960
That's a foolish, foolish statement.

00:43:23.199 --> 00:43:24.880
That's a foolish statement.

00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:36.480
I was recently in a counseling session with an older, very much older gentleman, and there were some things he said to me that they surprised me.

00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:39.440
Sins of commission.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:42.480
He's not talking about sins of commission.

00:43:42.639 --> 00:43:49.199
My pastor used to say, if the devil's going to get me, he's not going to get me on some bar stool in some nightclub Friday night.

00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:51.360
That's not how he's going to come after me.

00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:52.559
Commission.

00:43:53.519 --> 00:43:59.360
James is talking about what we call the sin of omission or the things that we ought to have done.

00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:12.880
The problem, if I could say it just really simply, the problem with separation is that oftentimes we account for our Christian lives based on the things that we don't actively participate in.

00:44:14.719 --> 00:44:27.119
But James is giving us another measuring rod for our spiritual effectiveness, not based on the things, evil things that we do not partake in, but the good things that we omit from our doing.

00:44:27.599 --> 00:44:33.039
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin.

00:44:33.440 --> 00:44:44.719
And Jesus makes this emphasis as well, Luke 12, 47, and that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

00:44:44.880 --> 00:44:51.599
I wonder if the judgment seat of Christ, I remember as a kid thinking that the judgment seat of Christ was like a heavenly drive-in movie theater.

00:44:52.719 --> 00:45:03.760
Big screen set up, and I come and stand before the manifest presence of Jesus, and all my friends gather around, and he, like a cinema, he replays all of my life.

00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:07.599
Everything we wouldn't want people to know.

00:45:09.119 --> 00:45:11.119
Would not want them to know, he said.

00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:13.920
I think it's way worse than that.

00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:21.280
You know, Paul said, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

00:45:21.840 --> 00:45:26.000
That every one of us shall receive the things done in our body, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

00:45:26.079 --> 00:45:29.039
Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord.

00:45:29.360 --> 00:45:30.079
Whoa.

00:45:30.800 --> 00:45:32.719
Terror of the Lord.

00:45:33.199 --> 00:45:35.679
I thought that was for the great white throne.

00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:37.920
Somebody said, There's no tears in heaven.

00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:39.280
I sang my first song in church.

00:45:39.440 --> 00:45:40.719
I was about five years old.

00:45:40.960 --> 00:45:42.079
I sang with my family.

00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:43.519
Do you remember the old song?

00:45:43.760 --> 00:45:46.719
No tears, no tears up there, no tears.

00:45:47.760 --> 00:45:48.719
Anybody know that song?

00:45:48.960 --> 00:45:50.239
No tears in heaven.

00:45:50.480 --> 00:45:52.320
Sorrow and pain will all be gone.

00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:53.360
No tears in heaven.

00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:55.360
Well, that's partially true.

00:45:56.320 --> 00:46:04.000
He does not wipe away all tears from our eyes until he perfects the church at the judgment seat of Christ and casts the wicked into hell.

00:46:04.079 --> 00:46:07.599
And then in Revelation 21, he wipes all tears from our eyes.

00:46:07.840 --> 00:46:14.880
When he shows us, not just what we did with our time and opportunities, I think he shows us what we could have done.

00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:18.400
What we, why am I talking about faith today?

00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:26.719
Because we'll be evaluated, not based on what we did, but what we left off, the risk we didn't take, the steps of faith that we didn't act upon.

00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:27.119
Why?

00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:29.119
Because we didn't fully trust God.

00:46:29.599 --> 00:46:31.199
That's what he's talking about.

00:46:31.519 --> 00:46:32.880
He knew the Lord's will.

00:46:33.039 --> 00:46:36.400
He knew he was to engage, and he was punished.

00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:37.920
Luke 11, 42.

00:46:38.079 --> 00:46:44.800
Woe, unto you Pharisees, ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs and Passover judgment and the love of God.

00:46:45.039 --> 00:46:53.679
These ye ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

00:46:54.079 --> 00:46:58.400
He's talking about the sin of omission.

00:46:58.719 --> 00:47:01.840
I just ask a question maybe this morning.

00:47:02.079 --> 00:47:05.519
What are we omitting from our Christian faith?

00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:08.079
Not committing.

00:47:08.719 --> 00:47:14.559
Pastor Sexton used to say the Christian life ought to be lived on the high road.

00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:20.320
And then he would say this the high road is not choosing between the good and the bad.

00:47:20.480 --> 00:47:22.159
Anyone can do that.

00:47:23.360 --> 00:47:28.400
The high road is choosing between the good and the best and always choosing the best.

00:47:28.880 --> 00:47:30.320
You know what he was touching on?

00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:32.159
The sins of omission.

00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:34.480
I'm a pretty good person, Pastor.

00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:36.000
I'm sure you are.

00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:38.480
That's not the standard he's giving us here.

00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:42.960
Goodness or badness is not always based upon what's not part of our life.

00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:49.280
Goodness or badness in his eyes is based upon what we're not doing with what he has given us to do.

00:47:50.079 --> 00:47:52.960
God brought us here as stewards.

00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:59.360
When I walk this campus and I walk through these buildings and I dream and envision what God can do.

00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:02.079
Do you ever do that?

00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:05.199
Just to dream what God can do.

00:48:07.280 --> 00:48:15.360
Let's not be guilty of the sin of omission, of not stepping out by faith and doing what God has put in our hearts to do.

00:48:15.519 --> 00:48:20.159
But number three, and where I want to spend most of my time here this morning, it's a statement of conscience.

00:48:21.519 --> 00:48:23.760
It's a statement of conscience.

00:48:24.239 --> 00:48:28.880
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:34.639
Now there's a hierarchy here, and I want you to get this in your mind this morning.

00:48:34.800 --> 00:48:39.360
First of all, there's God's word as our final authority.

00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:43.039
God's word as our final authority.

00:48:43.199 --> 00:48:44.320
Can we say that together?

00:48:44.559 --> 00:48:47.679
God's word, our final authority.

00:48:47.920 --> 00:48:50.800
The scripture is our final authority.

00:48:51.199 --> 00:49:03.039
Martin Luther said, unless I am convinced by the testimony of scriptures or by clear reason, I am bound by the scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the word of God.

00:49:05.519 --> 00:49:14.960
John Wycliffe, Holy Scripture is the highest authority for every believer, the standard of faith and the foundation for reform.

00:49:16.159 --> 00:49:22.239
A historical document called the Westminster Confession gives this great truth.

00:49:22.480 --> 00:49:32.480
The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined can be none other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

00:49:32.880 --> 00:49:36.960
Now that that statement flies in the face of postmodernism.

00:49:37.119 --> 00:49:41.280
Postmodernism says, live your truth, live your way.

00:49:41.519 --> 00:49:42.719
Self is the king.

00:49:42.960 --> 00:49:44.239
Self is not the king.

00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:48.559
Christ is king, and he's revealed himself in the Holy Scriptures.

00:49:49.119 --> 00:49:54.719
So the Bible is our final authority for faith and practice.

00:49:55.119 --> 00:49:58.079
Then notice number two, our conscience.

00:49:59.280 --> 00:50:01.119
Or our witness.

00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:04.000
How many of you have a conscience?

00:50:04.159 --> 00:50:04.880
Will you raise your hand?

00:50:05.039 --> 00:50:05.599
How many of you?

00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:06.320
Okay.

00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:06.960
Okay.

00:50:07.280 --> 00:50:08.960
It's a trick question.

00:50:11.199 --> 00:50:13.119
We call that general revelation.

00:50:13.199 --> 00:50:16.480
This is how God's revealed himself to everybody in the world.

00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:18.159
General revelation.

00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:19.119
Creation.

00:50:19.840 --> 00:50:28.400
Man looks at the created world and in his heart he ruminates, he sees design, and he says, wow, if there's a design, there must be a designer.

00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:34.400
If there's intelligence, there must be one greater than the intelligence created that created it.

00:50:34.559 --> 00:50:40.400
If there is law, there must be a lawgiver.

00:50:40.559 --> 00:50:46.639
If there is morality, there has to be a moral being who created it.

00:50:46.800 --> 00:50:50.480
So he didn't just give us creation, he gave us conscience.

00:50:51.199 --> 00:50:52.480
What is conscience?

00:50:52.639 --> 00:50:57.679
It is that voice, that witness inside of us.

00:50:58.000 --> 00:50:59.599
And it's in every person.

00:50:59.840 --> 00:51:20.079
The Bible says in the book of Romans, in chapter 2, verse 14, for when the Gentiles which have not the law, but by do by nature the things contained in the law, having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.

00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:22.000
It's general revelation.

00:51:22.159 --> 00:51:27.199
God's revealed himself to every man through creation, through conscience.

00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:28.719
That's general.

00:51:29.199 --> 00:51:31.920
Now, why is scripture greater than conscience?

00:51:32.400 --> 00:51:36.480
Because conscience is general revelation given to every man.

00:51:36.880 --> 00:51:42.880
Scripture is special revelation because it reveals to us the person and work and will of Jesus Christ.

00:51:43.039 --> 00:51:52.320
And it is through the scriptures and ultimately through God's Son, the Lord Jesus, that we fully come to know who that God is and what he did for us on a cross.

00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:56.639
So we have people all around the world recognizing there's some kind of God.

00:51:56.719 --> 00:51:57.679
And you know what they do?

00:51:57.760 --> 00:52:01.760
And we see this in the anthropological historical record throughout all the world.

00:52:01.920 --> 00:52:05.679
They know there is a God, and so they fashion gods that look just like them.

00:52:06.480 --> 00:52:16.639
They make them out of stone, they make them out of wood, they make them out of precious substances, they they worship trees, they worship groves, they worship certain places.

00:52:17.199 --> 00:52:17.679
Why?

00:52:17.840 --> 00:52:20.239
Because innately they know there's a God.

00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:25.760
But does it mean does that mean that they're going to heaven?

00:52:26.079 --> 00:52:26.400
No.

00:52:26.800 --> 00:52:27.760
What do they need?

00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:40.079
They need the scriptures, but aren't you glad that in Englewood, Florida today, that every unconverted person in this town has a law within that governs their behavior.

00:52:41.119 --> 00:52:46.239
Now the Bible says this conscience can accuse or excuse.

00:52:48.400 --> 00:52:52.159
It can accuse us and it can excuse us.

00:52:53.199 --> 00:52:57.519
So, number one, what I want you to note about the conscience is that it's not our final authority.

00:52:57.679 --> 00:52:58.800
It cannot be.

00:53:42.719 --> 00:53:43.840
Conditioned.

00:53:44.880 --> 00:53:48.800
Jeremiah says of the of the Jews, they had no blush.

00:53:48.960 --> 00:53:50.800
They lost their blush.

00:53:53.519 --> 00:53:56.559
We live in a generation that's lost their blush.

00:53:56.880 --> 00:53:57.280
Why?

00:53:57.440 --> 00:53:59.039
The conscience is seared.

00:53:59.280 --> 00:54:01.599
How did it become so seared?

00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:03.440
It was conditioned.

00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:06.320
How was it conditioned, Pastor?

00:54:06.559 --> 00:54:10.480
It was conditioned through what they listened to, it was conditioned through what they watched.

00:54:10.639 --> 00:54:13.599
It was conditioned through what was normalized in society.

00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:17.840
It was conditioned through what they were taught at school.

00:54:18.320 --> 00:54:25.039
It was conditioned through the friends that they had and the conversations that they had and the books they read and the media that they enjoyed.

00:54:25.760 --> 00:54:27.519
It can be conditioned.

00:54:29.599 --> 00:54:32.480
It has tremendous power.

00:54:33.840 --> 00:54:41.760
Sophocles said, there is no witness so terrible and no accuser so powerful as conscience, which dwells within us.

00:54:42.239 --> 00:54:47.360
We have the scriptures, we have conscience, and then we have, notice this, personal liberty.

00:54:47.440 --> 00:54:49.679
That's the application of truth.

00:54:50.480 --> 00:54:55.440
Lord willing, I'm preaching from Romans chapter 6 on Sunday, and Paul makes this amazing statement.

00:54:55.679 --> 00:54:58.880
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

00:55:00.880 --> 00:55:04.000
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

00:55:04.320 --> 00:55:05.760
God forbid.

00:55:06.639 --> 00:55:08.239
Why'd he say that?

00:55:09.599 --> 00:55:11.840
Because we weren't saved to sin.

00:55:12.880 --> 00:55:17.920
We were saved, and death is identified in us in Jesus.

00:55:18.079 --> 00:55:20.719
Sin was put to death when we came into Jesus.

00:55:21.519 --> 00:55:26.639
And the grace of God teaches us that we are to deny ungodliness and worldly lust.

00:55:26.800 --> 00:55:29.519
Somebody said they could sin as much as they wanted to.

00:55:31.199 --> 00:55:33.679
But because of Jesus, they just don't want to.

00:55:36.239 --> 00:55:37.360
Can I say it this way?

00:55:37.519 --> 00:55:41.760
When we become a Christian, he puts a new want to inside of us.

00:55:42.320 --> 00:55:44.639
We ought to please God with our lives.

00:55:44.960 --> 00:55:46.320
Personal liberty.

00:55:46.719 --> 00:55:54.639
Liberty is those areas in our lives which may be enjoyed through our freedom in Christ and that which are not against Scripture.

00:55:54.719 --> 00:55:55.840
Now watch carefully.

00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:59.599
People say their conscience isn't violated by certain behaviors.

00:56:03.199 --> 00:56:05.679
Pastor, my conscience is not violated by that.

00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:07.119
Wait a minute.

00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:13.199
If it's found in black and white and sometimes red, it doesn't matter how your conscience feels about it.

00:56:13.360 --> 00:56:16.639
If it's spoken of in Scripture, it's right or it's wrong.

00:56:18.320 --> 00:56:20.559
Liberty is not to be used for the flesh.

00:56:20.880 --> 00:56:22.480
Galatians 5 1.

00:56:22.880 --> 00:56:26.800
Paul says, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

00:56:27.199 --> 00:56:33.760
Our pastor used to say that liberty in Christ is freedom to do everything that Jesus Christ wants us to do.

00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:35.599
We're free in Christ.

00:56:35.840 --> 00:56:39.280
Liberty is not to be the deciding factor of our lives.

00:56:39.519 --> 00:56:54.400
1 Corinthians 8.7, howbeit there's not in every man that knowledge, for some with some conscience of the idol, unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled.

00:56:56.480 --> 00:56:57.360
The conscience.

00:56:57.599 --> 00:56:59.119
This is so powerful.

00:57:02.000 --> 00:57:03.440
So what is sin?

00:57:06.559 --> 00:57:07.599
What is sin?

00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:11.760
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him, it is sin.

00:57:12.079 --> 00:57:13.760
I've been saved a long time.

00:57:14.719 --> 00:57:18.079
Probably not as long as some of you, but I've been saved a long time.

00:57:19.840 --> 00:57:23.519
God has led me in my life and guided me.

00:57:23.599 --> 00:57:27.599
He's worked through his word, through the Holy Spirit, he's worked in my conscience.

00:57:27.679 --> 00:57:29.199
You know the good news about the conscience?

00:57:29.360 --> 00:57:33.679
The writer of Hebrews says that the blood of Christ is able to purge our conscience.

00:57:34.480 --> 00:57:39.199
There are things in our past lives that we regret, aren't there?

00:57:40.159 --> 00:57:41.840
But you know what the Bible says?

00:57:42.079 --> 00:57:51.360
The Bible says that the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience so that we cannot be accused of our conscience, but live in the fact that we've been set free by the power of Jesus.

00:57:51.599 --> 00:57:53.119
Praise God for that.

00:57:53.760 --> 00:57:55.039
So what is sin?

00:57:56.239 --> 00:58:01.360
According to James here, sin is that which cannot be done by faith.

00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:03.840
Romans 14, 23.

00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:09.920
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith, for what servers not of faith is sin.

00:58:11.599 --> 00:58:18.719
If God has so led our conscience and our conscience says no, here's the old rule of thumb.

00:58:18.880 --> 00:58:22.480
When in doubt, don't.

00:58:23.760 --> 00:58:27.519
I will say this, if you'll give me a few more minutes.

00:58:30.159 --> 00:58:36.079
I was having a conversation with the vice president of the college that I was teaching at.

00:58:36.800 --> 00:58:41.119
And we were talking about standards and conscience issues of our day.

00:58:41.360 --> 00:58:43.360
I want to illustrate something.

00:58:43.840 --> 00:59:05.119
When the Apostle Paul writes about conscience, he was writing about predominantly meat that was offered to idols, sacrificed in what are called the shambles, pagan altars whereon sacrifices were made to Zeus and Jupiter and Baal.

00:59:06.639 --> 00:59:27.679
And there were some born-again rednecks in the Roman world that saw that meat offered to idols was nothing more than meat, sheep steak, porter house, prime rib, filet.

00:59:28.159 --> 00:59:31.280
I thought somebody would say amen right there.

00:59:33.119 --> 00:59:42.559
And some believers said I would abstain until the stars fall, because that meat was offered to idols.

00:59:43.119 --> 00:59:44.960
And you have a controversy.

00:59:45.199 --> 00:59:48.079
Some see it as nothing more than dinner.

00:59:48.239 --> 00:59:50.239
Some see it as a sin against God.

00:59:50.480 --> 01:00:01.199
And Paul says to those whose conscience would be violated by eating meat, don't eat meat, because if you believe it's sin and you do it, it's sin.

01:00:03.440 --> 01:00:09.039
In that case, what we would call the stronger conscience is actually called the weaker brother.

01:00:10.719 --> 01:00:16.800
The stronger brother was of such his conscience was not violated by eating of that meat.

01:00:18.079 --> 01:00:22.000
And there was Christian liberty that was coming at odds in this church.

01:00:22.079 --> 01:00:26.639
And we were talking about this New Testament controversy.

01:00:28.000 --> 01:00:32.960
We were ministering in a school that had extremely high standards.

01:00:33.679 --> 01:00:35.760
Just allow me just to be specific, okay?

01:00:35.920 --> 01:00:38.639
If I'm not specific, the illustration will fall apart.

01:00:39.519 --> 01:00:49.199
I said we now are ministering in an environment where some would say, if a woman wears a pair of pants, that is sin.

01:00:51.039 --> 01:00:55.599
If a preacher has facial hair, that's sin.

01:00:56.960 --> 01:01:03.679
If someone goes to the Christian or goes to the movie theater and watches a decent film, sin.

01:01:06.719 --> 01:01:10.320
Some of you know what I'm addressing and talking about.

01:01:11.599 --> 01:01:14.559
And it occurred to me in that conversation, I said, you know, Dr.

01:01:14.719 --> 01:01:14.880
R.

01:01:15.039 --> 01:01:28.079
I said, the fact is, we in the Western world in America have such an easy way of life calling ourselves Christians.

01:01:28.400 --> 01:01:30.639
We've never suffered persecution.

01:01:31.199 --> 01:01:36.800
We've never suffered threats for being a Christian, for passing out tracts, for preaching the gospel.

01:01:37.360 --> 01:01:39.119
We've paid very little price.

01:01:39.280 --> 01:01:51.920
And because of that, a lot of our conscience issues that we fight about seem to be so petty in light of what issues were faced by Christians throughout history.

01:01:52.239 --> 01:01:54.639
Think about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

01:01:55.119 --> 01:01:57.440
Bonhoeffer was a German pastor.

01:01:58.079 --> 01:02:01.199
He was part of the non-confessing church.

01:02:01.519 --> 01:02:03.519
He would not bow to Hitler.

01:02:04.000 --> 01:02:08.639
He was part of an assassination attempt against the Fuhrer.

01:02:09.199 --> 01:02:18.559
He was arrested, spent the rest of his life in a concentration camp, and died a week before victory in Germany.

01:02:19.519 --> 01:02:22.000
That's a conscience issue, isn't it?

01:02:23.679 --> 01:02:26.079
But James is making a universal appeal here.

01:02:26.159 --> 01:02:27.760
I think it's important for us.

01:02:28.159 --> 01:02:32.559
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him, it is sin.

01:02:33.679 --> 01:02:36.800
He's speaking to two crowds here, and I'll finish here.

01:02:36.960 --> 01:02:39.039
He's speaking to those who hear.

01:02:42.239 --> 01:02:44.960
The conscience calibrated by truth.

01:02:48.079 --> 01:02:49.760
And then those who know.

01:02:51.039 --> 01:02:55.599
The mind that's been informed by truth.

01:02:58.000 --> 01:03:00.000
Let's finish in Matthew 11.

01:03:00.079 --> 01:03:00.960
I want you to see this.

01:03:01.199 --> 01:03:02.880
Matthew chapter 11.

01:03:12.000 --> 01:03:14.639
Conscience is one of the harder issues in the Christian world.

01:03:16.320 --> 01:03:20.480
All of us are from maybe a different faith tradition and background.

01:03:20.960 --> 01:03:25.440
We carry so much of that infrastructure along with us.

01:03:29.440 --> 01:03:33.519
I had grown a beard several years ago.

01:03:33.599 --> 01:03:43.599
I was getting a master's degree from a small college, and it was a stated policy in their handbook that men couldn't have facial hair.

01:03:43.679 --> 01:03:44.800
I was a pastor.

01:03:47.039 --> 01:03:52.559
And they called me, they said you can't walk across a platform with facial hair.

01:03:53.199 --> 01:03:54.719
That made me so mad.

01:03:56.079 --> 01:03:58.559
I'm just being honest, it made me so mad.

01:03:59.039 --> 01:04:02.559
How petty, I thought.

01:04:02.880 --> 01:04:04.159
How silly.

01:04:05.199 --> 01:04:10.159
How outdated Jesus had a beard.

01:04:16.320 --> 01:04:18.800
I had children watching what I was going to do.

01:04:19.280 --> 01:04:24.480
I could shave and go and get something I earned, or I could not shave and they would mail it to me.

01:04:24.719 --> 01:04:27.840
Had church members planning to meet me there.

01:04:28.639 --> 01:04:33.119
The Holy Spirit said, you know, it'll grow back pretty quickly.

01:04:40.880 --> 01:04:42.480
It has nothing to do with Matthew 11.

01:04:42.559 --> 01:04:44.320
I just wanted to tell you that story.

01:04:44.559 --> 01:04:46.000
Look at verse 20.

01:04:46.320 --> 01:04:51.360
Jesus began to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not.

01:04:52.079 --> 01:04:53.920
Woe unto thee, Korazin.

01:04:54.000 --> 01:04:55.280
Woe unto thee, Besseda.

01:04:56.159 --> 01:04:57.039
Notice this.

01:04:57.280 --> 01:05:04.800
For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

01:05:04.880 --> 01:05:11.679
But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you.

01:05:11.920 --> 01:05:16.719
And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell.

01:05:17.360 --> 01:05:22.239
For if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

01:05:22.320 --> 01:05:28.079
But I say unto you that it should be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.

01:05:28.239 --> 01:05:29.840
Why is he judging them?

01:05:32.239 --> 01:05:33.440
Because they know.

01:05:34.559 --> 01:05:35.920
Why is he judging them?

01:05:36.159 --> 01:05:37.519
Because they heard.

01:05:38.079 --> 01:05:39.760
Why is he so harsh to them?

01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:44.719
Because they know who he is and what he's done.

01:05:44.960 --> 01:05:57.440
With increased power, with increased knowledge, becomes increased responsibility.

01:06:00.239 --> 01:06:05.679
Many people may go to the judgment seat and really say, Lord, I didn't know, I never heard.

01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:07.760
I can't say that.

01:06:09.920 --> 01:06:16.400
He that is faithful in that which is least, he said he'll make to be faithful also in much.

01:06:16.559 --> 01:06:20.400
And so James takes us to the woodshed once again, doesn't he?

01:06:21.599 --> 01:06:26.159
To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

01:06:26.400 --> 01:06:36.000
And if God is speaking to us about a sin of omission, may we pray and just say, Lord, help me to follow through and apply that to my Christian life.

01:06:36.320 --> 01:06:38.000
Well, I owe you ten minutes.

01:06:38.079 --> 01:06:40.000
I'll give it back next week.

01:06:40.800 --> 01:06:42.559
But I appreciate you being here.

01:06:42.719 --> 01:06:43.519
Thank you for listening.

01:06:43.599 --> 01:06:45.360
Please say hi to Bob on your way out.

01:06:45.519 --> 01:06:57.360
And if you're interested in the work of the Gideons, and uh many of you are often looking for a ministry to be a part of, and I just want to say if that would be something you'd like to participate in and be involved in, I would wholeheartedly