Faith that God Approves • 09.29.24
Nick Lees   -   September 29, 2024

Faith that God Approves
James 4:13-5:20

Cultivating a faith that pleases God

  1. Replace proud plans with humble submission
  2. Recognize the severity of judgment for the self-indulgent
  3. Pursue a life characterized by trust in the Lord

Pastoral Prayer

Pray for those suffering due to Hurricane Helene.

Sermon

Good morning, church family! It is so good to worship the Lord with you this morning. If you’re new, welcome. My name is Pastor Nick, and I have the privilege of closing out our sermon series in the book of James this morning. Today is also a 5th Sunday, which is a special time in the life of our church where we combine into a single service so that we can go out and serve in our community during the second service hour. As James has counseled us, we want to be hearers and DOERS of the Word, to have a faith that works! I hope you’ve signed up for a serving project today. If you haven’t stick around afterwards and we can help you get connected to one.

Dismiss 4th + 5th graders

Ushers + Bibles (James 4; page 1201)

As I just mentioned, today is our final Sunday in James. I hope you will agree that this has been an incredibly rich study of such a short book. The practical wisdom that James has provided each week has been immediately applicable to my life, and I’m assuming yours as well. Who among us hasn’t struggled with their response to trials? Who is perfect in their speech, always saying what pleases God? Who has not struggled in their desires, leading to conflict with God or others? The answer, of course, is “No one! No one! And… No one!” These are all battles that we all face on a regular basis, and aren’t you thankful that God gives us truth and direction for how to handle them in His Word? AMEN!

Now, if James is ending today, then you may be wondering, what’s next? Well, in line with what we were just talking about, being given truth and direction from God’s Word, we are going to take the month of October to do a targeted study on The Word of God. Over four weeks, we will do a deeper dive into the key teachings and important beliefs about the Bible. We’ll be studying the Bible’s authority, sufficiency, inerrancy, and infallibility. Or to put it less technically, we’ll be studying how the Bible is God’s Word to us that contains everything we need for life and godliness and that it is trustworthy and true, without error. I want to encourage you to use the start of a new series to invite a friend or family member to come and hear what God has to say about His Word.

Why don’t we stop and pray for our efforts to serve our community today and for our evangelistic outreach for the new sermon series?

Pray

(James Graphic) Are you ready to dig into the Word of God this morning? Let’s turn our attention now to the final section of the book of James. We’re picking up in chapter 4, verse 13. Today we’re learning about a Faith that God Approves. Our aim is…

Cultivating a faith that pleases God

James 4:13–17 (ESV)

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James continues to provide very practical wisdom for daily life! He intends to help Christians who are stuck in ungodly ways of thinking and operating. The phrase, “Come now, you who say…” introduces a new section with a particular group in focus. Who is he focused on instructing?

  • Is it anyone who makes plans?
    • If so, our conclusion must be it’s wrong to make plans. Those who live by the seat of their pants are right and planners are wrong. Some of you wish that is what it was saying! 😊
  • Is it anyone who plans to make money?
    • This is a teaching against capitalism! It’s wrong to desire wealth and everyone should really aim at equitable distribution of goods. Some in our culture wish that is what it was saying!

We cannot properly interpret verse 13 without the context of verses 14-17. James elaborates on the group and issue in mind when he speaks about their lack of knowledge of what is to come and the brevity of their life. He removes any doubt when he issues the corrective in verse 15, “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live or do this or that.’” And the rebuke in verse 16, “As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”

James is speaking to those who are proud, to the men and women who go about making their plans for life without humility or submission to God’s position and plans for their lives! This ties into the emphasis on humility and submission in 4:7-10. We do not live and operate in this world apart from the good pleasure of our Creator. The One who gives us our daily breath and keeps our heart beating deserves to be worshiped. And that worship ought to play out in every aspect of our lives, even down to the plans we make for our days and weeks and careers.

Would you say you think that way? How do you typically approach planning for your day/week/life? Is humble submission to God’s desires a significant factor in your planning?

These are the kind of questions that James’ teaching invites us to consider. And as you consider your answers, I want to share our first step towards cultivating a faith that pleases God from the text today. It is…

  1. Replace proud plans with humble submission

Even if this has not been your practice prior to today, this is the practice God is calling you to in the days ahead! It is important to have a right view of yourself in light of the majesty and power of your Great God! He is the One who created all things. He is the One who upholds all things. If not for Him, we would all cease to exist, which means we had better listen closely when He tells us how we ought to think and live!

In his teaching, James highlights a theme from the Scriptures – the brevity of human life. Let me show you a couple of other places this shows up:

Psalm 39:5 (ESV)

   5      Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and my lifetime is as nothing before you.

          Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

1 Chronicles 29:15b (ESV)

15 … Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.

The truth is that we are finite creations whose life has a beginning and end. We are not here by accident, nor are our lives meaningless. God both delighted and desired to make us. He has a plan and purpose for our lives. (Main points slide)

However, a real challenge for us as humans is that we live as spiritual amnesiacs. We functionally live as if God does not exist nor has any real say over our day/plans/lives. So, we go about our weeks doing whatever seems right in our own eyes, without any regard to what God desires. This is a dangerous way to live! It is in direct opposition to the will of God and design God intended for us. In fact, it is the reason why so much brokenness pervades our world. We have billions of people across the earth, throughout human history, doing what seems right in their own eyes rather than submitting their desires and plans before the Lord.

Imagine if Hitler had submitted his wickedly proud plans before God. World War II may never have happened. Imagine if the terrorists of 9/11 had submitted their wickedly proud plans before the One, True God. The world would be a much different place today. But they did not do this. Instead, they proudly pursued their own plans and committed great evil.

This is what happens when men and women refuse to humbly submit their plans before the Lord. They function in pride – acting as if they were in God’s position and calling the shots in their lives. This kind of pride/boasting is evil. The examples I gave are extreme examples of where such pride can take us. Our own pride, whatever its form, is also evil in God’s sight.

It is easy to excuse our own proud self-reliance. “I know the plans I have for myself, plans to prosper, to give myself a future and a hope.” That is a self-focused mistranslation of Jeremiah 29:11, but it is very tempting way for us to think and live this way, isn’t it?

James is simply elaborating on the two different ways to live that have been developed throughout the letter. You can either live in a way that is self-focused, not submitted to God, chasing after your own desires OR you can live in a way that is seeking to please God, humbly drawing near to Him, fleeing from selfishness. Which will it be for you? *pause*

James is not saying that you cannot plan to make money. He is not saying that all planning is wicked. What he is saying is that the posture or heart attitude you bring into your planning is of the UTMOST importance. Christians are to be a people who operate from a position of open hands, bowed heads, bent knees… who say, “Lord, if it is your will…” Consider the examples of Jesus and Paul in the Scriptures…

Matthew 26:39 (ESV)

39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Acts 18:21 (ESV)

21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

The reality is that God reigns. He is in control. And our appropriate response in life is to live in humble submission before Him. Living this way is a great relief and blessing to Christians! Knowing that God is in control means that He has a good plan for my life, and He will accomplish His purposes. As I practice living in humble submission to His will, I am not missing out on opportunities but walking in the path of joy that leads to everlasting life! (Psalm 16:11)

What does it profit a man to gain the world but lose his soul? Jesus challenged his audience with this teaching. The answer is it would gain nothing. Such a life will not stand in the day of judgment.

King Solomon, after expending himself pursuing every possible pleasure under the sun, declared everything is a vanity in the book of Ecclesiastes. Do you know what his conclusion was after chasing after women and riches and anything his heart could desire?

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 (ESV)

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

That is what matters in life and on judgment day! Did you fear God and keep his commandments? Christians, let us not engage in boasting and bragging about our plans and our successes. What do you have that you did not receive? The pride of man is evil and brings destruction. We are living for so much more than the acquisition of wealth, a big home, fancy car, and nice clothes. Those things are fading away even as we acquire them. Worse, the proud heart that worships and boasts in such things invites God’s judgment. May it never be for us! May James 4:17 ring loudly in our ears, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

We have been instructed on the right heart attitude and posture to cultivate – humble submission before God. May we flee from the temptation to live in any other way in the days ahead. May we cultivate a faith that pleases God by actively submitting our plans to Him and rejoicing in the way He leads us. Let’s keep reading to see where James goes next in the text.

James 5:1–6 (ESV)

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Whew! James again introduces a new section with “Come now” but this time addressing the unbelieving rich people in their midst. And his language is very severe towards them. They are told to weep and howl because of miseries or distress that is coming upon them. They have put their trust in the wrong things. They have oriented their lives around worldly pleasures and treasures rather than the Lord of Hosts! The desire of their hearts was not to please God but to life self-indulgently. Our takeaway in cultivating a faith pleasing to God is…

  1. Recognize the severity of judgment for the self-indulgent

Self-indulgent meaning an excessive or unrestrained gratification of one’s own appetites, desires, or whims (Merriam-Webster) OR to indulge oneself excessively in satisfying one’s own appetites and desires (Louw-Nida).

Notice the emphasis here – excessive, unrestrained – and the focus – one’s own appetites, desires, whims… Such a person is not seeking to please God but self.

This is one of those negative examples that serves to guard people against the type of life that ends in God’s judgment. Those who live this way will find out the hard way that earthly riches are not eternal, and when they are handled improperly, they will serve as evidence for judgment against them.

Defrauding others and hoarding wealth are both sinful ways to live. They have stolen from those who earned their wages. They have failed to be good stewards of the money entrusted to them by a gracious God. Rather than viewing money as a tool to accomplish the will of God, they have viewed money as a tool to accomplish the will of man. “What do I want?” rather than “What does God want?”

Perhaps you can relate to this struggle when you have money in your account. It is easy to turn inward and think about self rather than humbly submitting our finances to the Lord! If this is a temptation for you (and it likely is for all of us), then you must realize that this is an opportunity for repentance and growth! What do you have that is not from God? Nothing! Everything is His and He has entrusted it to us. My money is His money. And I am entrusted with it to use in a manner that pleases and honors Him.

These unrighteous people could care less about what God wants with their finances, so they lived it up in this life. They built nice houses, accumulated a wardrobe full of designer clothes, built up a sizeable estate that required laborers to maintain, and yet justified not paying those laborers for their work! This teaching may remind you of a parable that Jesus taught when he walked the earth:

Luke 12:16–21 (ESV)

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

This man was a fool because his sole focus was on his own wellbeing in this life. He didn’t care about what pleased God. He didn’t realize that his life was a mist that vanishes. So, he lived self-indulgently until the day God ended his life as an act of judgment. His failure to use his finances as a wise and generous steward of God led to his demise. Whew! Are you starting to evaluate your approach to finances right now? If not, you should be!  (Main points slide)

The teaching of James is that these self-indulgent, ungodly lifestyles are especially egregious in a day of slaughter when God is about to return to judge. A person who lives self-indulgently is functioning like an atheist – meaning even if they profess faith in God, they do not live like it. Their walk doesn’t match their talk!

We need to realize how easy it is to be self-indulgent and store up treasures for self rather than living sacrificially. The people in our nation have access to great wealth by the world’s standards. Your ability to have safe, secure housing, a car that functions, clothes in your closet to choose between each day, food in your fridge, and so on is a luxury that many in our world do not have. And yet we take that for granted. At least, I know I do. And how often do we make decisions with our finances that take zero consideration of what God would think/say about it? This is the behavior of someone who does not follow God!

The point being that we should recognize that our financial decisions are spiritual decisions. The wise man/woman learns to submit their budget, their purchases, and their lifestyle choices to the Lord. For example, if you didn’t know, God has a lot to say about the foolishness of living in debt and the wisdom of living generously. The Bible speaks often about how to manage God’s money wisely.

If you’d like to learn more about this, let me point you to some additional resources:

  • 2019 – Sermon from Proverbs – Stewarding Your Finances
  • Stewardship Resources on our website
    • Budget Template, FPU, Crown Financial, EveryDollar app, Mint app
    • RightNow Media – YourLife: Financial Stewardship for Teens (Crown)
      • A number of Crown Financial courses on here!
    • Resource Library
      • Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
      • Money: God or Gift by Jamie Munson

May we flee from self-indulgence and draw near to God by cultivating desires that please Him in this area of our lives! Let’s turn our attention to the final section of James.

James 5:7–20 (ESV)

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

And just like that, the letter is done! James doesn’t bother with any final greetings or closing comments. Instead, he carries on giving them commands to the very end. After having warned them about the dangers of mishandling their desires and priorities, he now points them to the way they ought to live. Here we find more teachings on faith that works.

I have attempted to summarize this entire section into one key takeaway for us this morning. As we seek to cultivate a faith that pleases God, we must…

  1. Pursue a life characterized by trust in the Lord

This is the idea that is interwoven throughout the commands that James gives here. Trust the Lord! Live in a way that demonstrates that you are relying on Him and not yourself.

Now let’s break it back down into the specifics that he just taught us in the text. You noticed the repeated call to patience in verses 7-10. Then there was also the twin theme of endurance or steadfastness alongside of patience. When James commanded them to “Establish your hearts” in verse 8, that means to strengthen or to cause them to stand firm.

Remember the historical context of James’ audience. They are Jewish Christians who have fled Jerusalem due to the persecution of the Pharisees. They have resettled into new lives in new cities and are a cultural and religious minority. They were not well-liked by the Jews or the Romans. On top of these external pressures, they also faced the internal pressures of competing desires warring within them! I think we all can relate to that, especially when life is tough. What are you typically wanting when it seems like nothing is going well or life is hard? “I want comfort. I want ease. I want to be left alone. I want things to change!” And so on… The common theme is that the focus is on ME/SELF.

The antidote to such selfish temptations is to pursue trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord produces patience. Patience means to bear up under provocation without complaint; to remain tranquil while waiting (BDAG). When your focus is on your Great God rather than your circumstances or your selfish desires, it reframes how you process and respond to everything else. James encourages his readers to be patient… until the coming of the Lord. He points them to what is ahead in redemptive history. Your patience has a goal – eternal life with God. Which is why endurance or steadfastness is also necessary. We do not know when the Lord will return or what we will face while we wait!

Like James, we know that the coming of the Lord is at hand. Jesus’ return is the next step in God’s grand redemptive plan. It could come at any time, but until then, Christians are to cultivate patience and steadfastness by having their hearts fixed upon Christ. When your heart is committed to Christ, then you can bear up under provocation without complaint. When your heart is committed to Christ, then you can deny the temptation to grumble against one another. That’s a real temptation during suffering/oppression! We get cranky when life is hard! But trusting Jesus and firmly fixing your desires/heart on Him can change that – it can produce peace in the storm. (Main Points Slide)

James invites his audience to consider the prophets of old, nearly all of whom faced incredible suffering and trials in their ministry for God. There is value in considering the spiritual giants who have gone before us. We can learn from them. Suffering and trials are not unexpected, in fact they are often the way God produces His best work! How else do you end up with a beautiful diamond unless you grind off the unnecessary bits? How else do you end up with pure gold unless you crank up the refiner’s fire to remove the dross? So too God uses the trials of our lives to conform us to the image of His Son and to prepare us for eternity with Him!

But you will not learn these lessons or benefit from God’s refining work in your life if you do not trust God. If you do not pursue a life characterized by trust in the Lord, you will run from every trial and hardship. You will think no good can possibly come from it. You will do all in your power to get out of it, rather than asking God to help you patiently endure and grow through it. Trusting God is essential to standing firm in the storms of life!

You will also not learn these lessons if you are not willing to consider the character and work of God in others, especially the biblical portraits found in the Word. James appeals to the Old Testament prophets and the steadfastness of Job. If you forsake reading your Bible or avoid studying the Old Testament because it’s too hard to understand, then you have just removed a considerable portion of God’s revelation that is meant to help you learn to trust Him! Don’t do that! That is why having the discipline of systematically reading the Bible from start to finish in a year is a helpful one to have. Every year our church puts out an annual Bible reading plan with an open invitation to join it. If you’ve never read the Bible from cover-to-cover, I would encourage you to make that your goal in 2025. There are so many incredible truths awaiting your discovery in both the Old and New Testaments!

I personally have really enjoyed meditating on the lessons from the Apostle Paul’s life in 2 Corinthians in the past couple of years. In that letter, Paul is very vulnerable about his own frailties and weaknesses in life and ministry, but he repeatedly points back to the Lord in it. It has resonated so much with my own frailties and weaknesses! Paul’s honesty in wrestling and choosing to trust in the Lord has counseled me to do the same! I cannot commend enough to have a practice of going to the Word and learning from those whom God sent before us.

On another note, in verse 12 James tells his audience to not make oaths, but to be men and women of their word. You may have heard the old saying, “A man is only as good as his word.” Turns out that cliché has some biblical bite to it. Jesus also taught that our word should be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and anything beyond that comes from evil/the evil one. The point here is that Christians must be known for being truthful and keeping their word. It was ungodly to say you would do something and then fail to do it. It was also ungodly to swear oaths in a way that allowed you to break them later. Christians must not do that! Just say yes or no based on what would please Jesus and then stick to it.

I’ll never forget being taught Psalm 15, which drives this very point home. Listen to the question posed in verse 1, followed by its answer.

 Psalm 15:1-5 (ESV)

1      O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?

Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

   2      He who walks blamelessly and does what is right

and speaks truth in his heart;

   3      who does not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

 

   4      in whose eyes a vile person is despised,

but who honors those who fear the Lord;

          who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

   5      who does not put out his money at interest

and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

          He who does these things shall never be moved.

The one who has the privilege of walking with God and dwelling in His presence is the one who speaks truthfully and keeps his/her word. Backing out of your commitments or failing to keep your word is sinful. If this is a practice in your life, then you need to confess it and seek forgiveness. Whether that’s in the workplace, in your home, serving at the church, in your commitments to friends or family… Here’s the reason given by James: So that you may not be judged/fall under condemnation. (Main Points Slide)

Finally, in the last eight verses of the chapter, James calls the people to handle suffering, rejoicing, sickness, sin, and mutual ministry in a godly manner. These passages are very straightforward, so I will not be spending a lot of time unpacking them this morning. But I would like to make a few observations as we finish up today.

It is appropriate to turn to God and his people in all situations in life. We are meant to do life together. God invites us to pray to him in our suffering. He encourages us to sing praises to him in our mountain-top moments of life. He wants us to gather with the church to pray over matters of importance, whether it’s physical or spiritual issues. God has decreed that He will work through the prayers of His people, therefore it is a tremendous privilege to pray for one another. Prayer also avails us of the immeasurable power of God, whether that would be to heal the sick, save the lost, or dry up rain from the land. Nothing is too great for our God. These are incredible promises to consider as we close out the book of James!

James has given us powerful reasons to trust the Lord in this letter. He has demonstrated the necessity and beauty of authentic faith that produces a transformed life. Faith that works. I don’t know about you, but that is the kind of life that I want to live and faith that I want to have. What better life could there be than to be saved by God from spiritual death, formed into a godly man/woman who serves and blesses many in our lifetime, and then passes on into glory with Him forever, leaving behind a spiritual legacy that continues through the ages? Sign me up for that kind of life. I hope you would say the same.

Let’s pray.

Pray

Prayer of confession and repentance. Asking God to help us hear and obey.