God s Plan For Your Life

God s Plan For Your Life (James 4:13-5:12 March 26, 2017) Reformed Theology! Two words but two words that can lead to a whole gamut of emotions. To many, an R Rated sermon by this I mean R for Reformed conjures up notions of: Explicit Calvinist Language Christocentric Themes Strong References To Sovereignty Or it can bring to mind the teachings of TULIP which for those who aren t aware is a common acronym for Calvinist teaching. For some these are truths to build your lives on others find them concerning even dangerous. For many here this morning these terms might not be at all familiar. And some of the terms I am about to use might be foreign to you but hang in there for a few minutes I promise I do have a point. I want to talk for a few minutes about the real essence of Reformed Theology. While many very proudly trumpet their Reformed leanings or their Reformed biases if you ask them to define what Reformed means you will quickly get a large variety of opinions and definitions. If you doubt that do what I did this week and ask a few Reformed people or try a quick Google search and you will get a rather large variety of definitions. 1

Here are few of the more significant definitions I was given. Reformed: It means holding to the teachings of the Reformation that distinguished the Reformers from the Catholic Church. It means holding to the teachings and theology of Martin Luther or more commonly John Calvin. It means holding to the Bible as the final authority. It means holding to the five solas of the Reformation. It means holding to the Westminster Confession of Faith or for Baptists the London 1689 Confession. It means confessing the consensus teachings of the first five centuries of the Christian era. It means holding to covenant theology and paedo-baptism. It means holding to two sacraments baptism and communion. It means holding to the sovereignty of God in all things. It means holding to the teachings of TULIP. In many churches Reformed conjures up different images: Perhaps visions of bearded men gathering to quote Spurgeon and drink craft beer. And lest we think a TULIP by any other name would smell as sweet it does not. For some, Reformed Theology is: A scheme of the devil sent to deceive people by teaching that God maliciously sends people to hell and opposes evangelism. Again, if you are here this morning and these terms and debates mean nothing to you no problem. All that this means is that Reformed is a term over which there is a lot of debate. To some degree, Reformed is in the eye of the beholder. This is one of the reasons why here at this church we tend to use the term sparingly because it means very different things to different people. However, because I do believe Reformed teaching encapsulates the essence of biblical teaching with a fair degree of trepidation fully expecting some push back what I want to do is to give you my imperfect, personal definition of how I understand this term. 2

A Reformed Christian holds to God as sovereignly determining every event in every time and place for His glory, His Word as our only sufficient guide, His rule as supreme over all creation such that submission to His loving kingship becomes the foundation of everything they believe and do. A Reformed Christian holds to God as sovereignly determining every event in every time and place for His glory, His Word as our only sufficient guide, His rule as supreme over all creation such that submission to His loving kingship becomes the foundation of everything they believe and do. Everyone told me it is too long and too theological but I just had to put it all in sorry. So, maybe you like my definition maybe you don t maybe you don t understand it. Maybe other aspects of Reformed Theology are more what you think the essence of this stream of Christianity is. That is fine. Feel free to write your understanding. I will point out that depending on how you define a number of these terms people who would definitely not consider themselves Reformed could say a hearty Amen to this. And some who are Reformed would say this definition is severely lacking. I can live with all of this. But, the reason I have done this is not to stir any division over the term Reformed. I have done this because I want to suggest that there is at least one aspect of my definition that James would heartily approve of and so should all of us. Notice the two little words: And do. If you were listening to all of the other definitions of Reformed what struck me and I hope it struck you was the fact they all focused on doctrine. This morning what should hit us between the eyes is that when James talks about God being sovereign his emphasis is not so much on doctrine but on practice. How the sovereignty of God is meant to radically affect the way we actually live. We don t just hear the Word or believe the Word we are to do the Word. 3

I think in James day as in ours many people talk a good Reformed game far fewer live it. Paul knew it as well. He told Timothy: Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. 1 Timothy 4:16. So, in our passage, James focusses on how the truth that God is absolutely sovereign should transform the way we live. I know this has been a long way to get here, but finally here is the point of this morning s message: Submission to a God who is absolutely sovereign, sufficient and supreme must radically affect every aspect of the way we live Submission to a God who is absolutely sovereign, sufficient and supreme must radically affect every aspect of the way we live. Because God is sovereign over our todays and tomorrows it must change our lives. Let me begin by reminding you of where we are in James. We have seen that the point of the book is that: Trials are a blessing from God to approve our faith and produce good fruit. We have seen that in chapter 1 verses 2-18, James talks about the effect trials and temptations have on us. 4

Death Sin Trial + Evil Desires Entice Endure Fruit Life He told us that when we encounter trials our response will lead us down one of two paths. Either to sin and death or to fruit and life. Then, from chapter 1 verse 19 to the end of the book James gives us a picture of what true firstfruits will look like in our lives. When trials have led us to maturity our lives will look like this: 1:19-27 The fruit of obedience 2:1-13 The fruit of impartiality 2:14-26 The fruit of works 3:1-12 The fruit of words 3:13-4:3 The fruit of peacemaking 4:4-12 The fruit of humility 4:13-5:12 The fruit of submission 5:13-18 The fruit of prayer This morning we are looking at the seventh fruit the fruit of submission. By this I mean submission of every aspect of our lives to the absolute sovereignty of God. When trials come the reaction of our hearts is so often selfish this can t be right a good God should not do this to ME. I deserve better. 5

However, the mature Christian, the complete Christian responds to the trials of life with submission to the will of a God who works all things together for good. We trust that somehow this is for the glory of God and also for my good. God has a plan that goes beyond the limits of our small view of how our lives should run. So, here is how James conveys these truths to our hearts this morning. The absolute sovereignty of God means: We must strive to sacrificially make kingdom decisions 4:13-17 We must strive to suffer patiently until His kingdom comes 5:1-12 The absolute sovereignty of God means: We must strive to sacrificially make kingdom decisions 4:13-17 We must strive to suffer patiently until His kingdom comes 5:1-12 We begin with this first point: The absolute sovereignty of God means: We must strive to sacrificially make kingdom decisions 4:13-17 Turn with me to James 4:13: 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. James is writing to Christians who are planning what they are going to do with their lives over the next year. The question we have to ask is this. What is James problem with what they are doing? Is it planning? Laying out how they are going to spend the next year, ten years, fifty years? Is it trading? Is his problem running a business? Is it making a profit? Is gaining some wealth the problem? No! If you read Proverbs all of these things are praised. James is not denying the wisdom of Proverbs. 6

We should plan our lives. We can conduct some form of business. We should aim to run our business so we make money to provide. James tells us what the issue is in verses 14-16: 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. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James issue is the priorities that undergird our decision making. Last week we looked at how our priorities can get skewed. ME SPOUSE, FAMILY, BROTHERS GOD NEIGHBOURS ENEMIES Even Christians can allow their life to drift and without careful monitoring of our heart our priority can become ME. God can be in our life He is just not the priority. If this is your life then the driving force behind your decisions becomes self not kingdom. The implication in the example James is giving is that the driving motive behind the decision is profit. Again, profit in and of itself is not wrong we would all go broke quickly if we didn t make a profit. But profit can t be the priority. I believe James is asking the saints this question. If God was your priority would you still make the same decision? Behind this there are other questions. Would you still move to the other town to run your business? You may not earn as much but what about your obligation to your church and the brethren? Do they need you? Are there people you are discipling? Are you leaving them? What example are you setting them or your children? 7

Are you uprooting your family just for profit or comfort? What will your example say to non-christians? Very often, there are kingdom reasons to make a decision that the world would say you are foolish to make. Turning down a promotion. Staying in a less desirable house or part of town. Choosing to work part-time. Notice that James addresses why having ME as the priority is not a wise way to make life decisions. He tells us that decisions based on ME as the priority are: Limited and arrogant James is incredibly pastoral. He knows the way we think. We find a way to make ME decisions while telling ourselves these are kingdom decisions. God I have seventy or maybe eighty years of life. So, here is my plan. I will work hard now to provide for my family, tuck some money away then when the kids are grown, the mortgage paid and the trip to New York crossed off the bucket list then I am all yours. That seems a good plan to ME. James says your plan is too limited and too arrogant. First, such decisions are limited. Look at verse 14: 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. Most of us are control freaks we can t handle it when we are not in control. James wants us to know we are never in control. God is. You can t even plan one day let alone decades. A week ago, I attended a precious wedding of two very smart accountants. They were determined that their day would run to schedule. They did up an Excel spreadsheet of everything that was to happen down to the minute. 8

Everything was controlled for. Even speeches were controlled for. If anyone went longer than 8 minutes the DJ was instructed to start up the music and that was it. I m glad that doesn t happen here Sunday mornings maybe it should. Guess what? stuff happens things ran over. No one can plan for every event. Sorry control freaks you cannot control your life. James knows this. He says our plans are so limited. In fact they are so limited who says you will even live to see the sun go down today? Jesus also knew this. Listen to His words in Luke 12:16 21: And [Jesus] told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? 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. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. About eight or nine years ago I ran into one of my first surgical bosses in the tearoom. He was beaming. He told me he was retiring in two day s time. He was very young to retire mid-fifties. He told me all his plans. He planned to trek Nepal and Europe and South America. He was going to visit Antarctica and take the trans-siberian railway. He talked about how he had worked so hard to be in a position to retire young enough to do all the things he wanted to do. Three months later I saw him from a distance. He looked terrible. Gaunt, pale, deathly. I found out that one week after retirement he found a lump it was cancer it had already spread. He died two weeks after I saw him in the distance. Proverbs 16:9: The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. You can make every plan you want for tomorrow but the final say is God s. He controls your destiny. 9

The song In Christ Alone contains these lines: From life s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. You don t command your destiny Jesus does! That is James point. Even if you prayed, sought godly counsel and were convinced the best kingdom decision was to go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit it is the Lord who will actually direct your steps. Those things may happen or they may not. Maybe you will set up your business, trade and make a profit. Maybe you may have a heart attack on the way. Or maybe you may work incredibly hard and your business fails and you lose everything. Our destiny is in God s hands and He knows what we need better than we do. Verse 15: Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. This verse is the basis for the teaching of Deo Volente which is Latin for Lord Willing. There are a number of people including many truly great saints who add D.V. or Lord Willing to every plan. I think they mistake James intent here. I don t think James means for us to say Hey Joe let s have a coffee together next Tuesday Lord Willing of course. It sounds pious and godly. I don t think it is wrong to do this I just don t think it is what James intended. First, I think he is talking about the larger life decisions not the day to day minutiae. Second, I think he means for us to understand that we should make the wisest kingdom decisions we can but realise that God will actually guide our steps according to His sovereign will. 10

The sovereignty of God means God decides everything and I do mean everything that happens in our lives. Isaiah 46:8 11: Remember this and stand firm, I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. God doesn t just know your future He has declared it and He will bring it to pass. This is a Reformed sermon so you have to have a Spurgeon quote. Here is mine: Amen! I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes. And if you have grasped anything in James often what God sovereignly bestows on us is a path we would never choose a path that involves trials and suffering. We have seen in James: Trials are a blessing from God to approve our faith and produce good fruit. Brothers and sisters, our selfish hearts would never willingly choose the path of trial. Would I ever have chosen for my mother and daughter to get cancer? no. Would I ever have chosen some of the really tough patches of my life? no. But, as I look back I can see the hand of God in them. I have chosen to consider them a blessing. God knew far better than me what I needed and so I praise God for the tough times, the trials, the suffering because it is producing an eternal weight of glory in this slow learning man. We saw in Job just why God might send us trials: To encourage repentance To mature us To edify the church To encourage a longing for heaven To teach us about God and His gospel 11

Maybe I can put it this way. Ask a 20 year-old Christian guy what is your plan for your life? Let s be honest most won t have a plan. If he does, he might say something like this: Finish my degree, find a godly girl, get married, have a couple of kids, buy a house and serve the Lord the best I can along the way. James says that might be the way it goes. Or God may have something much greater in mind for that young man. Singleness, suffering, serving, sacrifice. God might plan to send him single as a pioneer missionary to an unreached people group where he is brutally killed. Who would willingly choose that? Not many of us. But from the perspective of eternity and heaven that is a life well lived. That is not wasting your life. James is clear it is only if it is God s will that our plans will eventuate. In this case that these Christians will live and trade and make a profit. At times His plan is different. They may die or go broke or get cancer. What they need to declare is: Not my will be done but His whatever that may be. That is the heart of the Christian. We make plans as wisely as we can and then we step down that path in faith but we know where our path actually leads it is in God s hands. That lets you sleep well at night. As well James says that making decisions based on ME as a priority is also arrogant. Verse 16: As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 12

Why is it arrogant? It is arrogant to say that you have the time, ability and drive to shape your life. It is arrogant to say I will do this because you can t control any part of your future. It is arrogant to say I will do this because you may die tonight. It is arrogant to say I will do this because you in your own strength you won t make kingdom decisions. And such arrogance is evil. Here is the reality. Too many of us have as our life plan mainly ME now mainly GOD later. I have heard it so often. This is ME time now but the period of my life when I live for God is coming. But it keeps getting put back, pushed off, excused away and usually it doesn t come. Read the Gospels Jesus never says change your life tomorrow what He says is change it today because you may not have a tomorrow. James knows if you are aren t living for God now chances are you won t then. Verse 17: So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Don t skip past this. If you know the right choice to make and don t make it if you know the kingdom decision but choose self that is sin! I shared this earlier in James but I will remind you again. I get this all the time: Pastor Craig I would really like to meet with you to get your wisdom on something. OK so we meet. Turns out they are contemplating a decision. It soon becomes clear that the problem is there is a choice they really want to make but they know that this is not the best choice spiritually. I have been offered a promotion but I have to work every Sunday. I want to marry the very beautiful, stunning Cindy but I am probably the only one who thinks she is a Christian. 13

I want to move my family to this idyllic beach town but there is no even semi-decent church there. They turn up with all of these reasons why what they want to do is actually the best decision why it is a kingdom decision: If I take the promotion I can give more to missions no you won t. If I marry the stunning Cindy I can help her spiritually and if it turns out she isn t saved I have a lifetime to witness to her rarely works. If we move to the beach I can spend more time guiding my family spiritually no you won t. Here is the reality they are not after guidance they are after permission. The Spirit within them is screaming that it is wrong. If they do it anyway, James says this is sin. Not this isn t wise this isn t best. He says this is sin! You need to put God first. You need to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness then the other things are added. Brothers and sisters how do you make sacrificial kingdom decisions? First, you realise the absolute sovereignty of God. You are serving Him. All money and time and family and talents are His. You ask how does my master want me to build His kingdom? And this also means submitting to the path the King takes your life even if it leads to trials and suffering. And if trials come we rejoice and consider it joy. Second, you realise the fleeting nature of life as a stimulus to living for the kingdom. I tell you. The days are getting longer but the years are getting shorter. Psalm 39:4: O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! 14

Psalm 90:12: So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. You have limited days here. Maybe you don t even have one day left. You don t know. So plan now but also ask if the Lord grants me a year, ten years, twenty years how should I use this time to His glory? You have the Word, and wise counsel and prayer how would the King want you to use His time and resources to His glory? Ben Shannon the pastor of our Corinda sister church was telling me about his mechanic who became a Christian four years ago. Ben said he regularly strives to put the kingdom over profit. If he finds someone who will listen to the gospel he just closes up the store to share. He does less work and more sharing. He earns far less but is laying up treasure in heaven. When the sovereignty of King Jesus grows in our hearts we long to seek first His kingdom and make kingdom decisions. This leads us to our second point: The absolute sovereignty of God means: We must strive to suffer patiently until His kingdom comes 5:1-12 We have seen that suffering is inevitable in this life. God s plan for our life involves suffering patiently until He comes. This is something we can rebel against but as we saw in chapter 1 if we want to be mature and complete we need to let trials do their work. So, we are to consider trials all joy and thank God for them. Here in this section, James gives us a motivation, an encouragement to endure patiently. Turn to chapter 5 verses 1-6: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver 15

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. 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. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. The first question we have to ask is who is this passage addressing? Up to now James has been speaking to Christians. In the context, there is little doubt that it is the wealthy non-christians who are oppressing the Christian church. In verse 6 these wealthy people are condemning and murdering the righteous. They are persecuting Christians who do not resist. They are not violently opposing this evil they are turning the other cheek they are loving their enemies. In the context of the book this persecution by the rich seems to be one of the main trials the scattered church was facing. So why does James address these non-christians? They are unlikely to hear this letter? The reason is that James says their impending judgment should be an encouragement to the brothers who are suffering. Verse 7: Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Therefore, because of what James has just said be encouraged to suffer patiently knowing the Lord is coming. So, what is this encouragement we are to find in the warning to the rich? It is the fact that the Day of judgment and vindication the day where every tear will be wiped away the Great day of His coming is at hand. The rich may have lived totally selfish lives at the expense of these poor Christians. They may have lived in luxury on the back of their fraudulent exploitation of the poor. These rich clearly do not believe they will have a Day of judgment but James says the Day is at hand. The day when they will be shown to have stored up treasures on earth and nothing in heaven. 16

Maybe the Lord will end their days soon. Maybe they will live a long life. Maybe Jesus will return. Only God knows. The only certainty is this the Day of their judgment their Day of their reckoning will come. Luke 17:26 30: Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. The day will come suddenly, unexpectedly. They will be conducting their business as they have a thousand times before buying and selling, sipping lattes and eating pastries and in the midst of this routine an angel will blow the last trumpet and everything they ever knew will change eternally. They will go from luxury to miseries beyond imagining. Their riches will vanish. They will stand alone before the Lord of hosts. And the cries of the laborers they defrauded and persecuted will come to the ear of the Lord of hosts. And He will tell them you had your day and you wasted it. You lived in luxury and self-indulgence. You lived as if this world is all there was. It was not. You fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You filled your bellies right up until the last trump and now you face judgment. You condemned and murdered Christians even though they did not resist you and now the day of their vindication has come. Jesus told a parable of two men who died a poor man and a rich man named Lazarus. 17

Luke 16:22 26: The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. On that day it will be too late. The time to repent. The time to say I submit my life to the Kingship of Jesus has passed. Perhaps there are some here this morning who have never chosen to have Jesus as their King. You are your own King. You do business, you live as if this world is all there is. You do not believe a Day of reckoning will come. Perhaps some have even conducted business in a way that has hurt others. Perhaps this passage is for you. The Bible is so clear the Day is coming like a thief in the night at a time when we least expect it. I beg of you heed this warning a Day of miseries is coming. Yet it need not be so. Jesus said come regardless of what we have done though our sins be as scarlet come. Come accept the pardon in His blood and live. We heard the testimonies of baptism there is no sin Jesus will not forgive. Choose to make Him King. Choose to make kingdom decisions and lay up treasure in heaven. Come and His death will pay for your sins. Come while you may. But, James main point is that this coming Day of Judgment is to be an encouragement to Christians to you and me to be patient in suffering. Whatever our suffering is when God deems it has done its work of maturing us it will end and the Lord will bring judgment and justice to the earth. 18

When you know trials are working good, that your trials will end and justice will reign it helps you endure the trial and consider it joy. But, verse 7: 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. Today farmers still depend on rain but not as absolutely and it is not as life and death as it was in James day. Most rain in Israel came in the winter months December to February but the success of the crop really depended on the early and late rains the rains in Autumn and Spring. But the farmer can do nothing to bring those rains on. Anxiety worrying nothing brought them on. They came when the Lord willed so they had to wait patiently. In the same way, the Day of the Lord the Day of Judgment the Day of Vindication the Day of Relief will come but only when God wills. I think of the martyrs underneath the altar of God in heaven in Revelation 6 crying How long O Lord? How long till the Day of vindication? And they are told be patient rest a little longer till the number of brothers is complete then the Day will come. Verse 8: You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Be patient. Endure. Persevere the day is at hand. Maybe soon maybe not but it will come. Whatever your struggle is whatever your trial is the Day of the Lord the Day when Christ returns that Day is coming. Verse 9: Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. When you are suffering and waiting the tendency is to complain and grumble. We can lash out at others. 19

James reminds us be careful the Judge the One who deemed this suffering necessary for us He is coming it may be today and when He comes we don t want to be found grumbling and sinning against each other. We want to be found waiting patiently and suffering in godly submission. Verse 10: As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Pick a prophet Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea look at their lives they were persecuted, suffered, tortured. Hebrews 11:35 38 says of them: Some were tortured, refusing to accept release Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated of whom the world was not worthy. How did they endure? Hebrews says it was because of their hope of better life heaven. Their hope was on the Day of the Lord and the life to come. This was their encouragement to endure. Verse 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. When I think of being steadfast and patient my mind does not readily run to Job. When I taught through Job I struggled with this verse in James. Job handled his adversity with incredible patience for a few short months! Then he cracked big time. He exploded at God blaming God demanding answers from God demanding his day in court. At least in chapters 3-37, Job was not steadfast and patient. I came to understand that what James is talking about here is what began in chapter 38 and culminated in chapter 42 of Job. In chapter 42 Job repented in dust and ashes. He said I will gladly submit my life to Your purpose. 20

At that time, Job had no promise of healing or restoration. He says I will be steadfast and patient because You work all things for good. What brought about this change? God appeared out of the whirlwind and showed Job His glory His sovereign majesty. God told Job: I control every part of My creation including evil for good. Job you can t even understand simple stuff like how I created the universe let alone more complex stuff like who lives the lion cub or the zebra. So how could you ever comprehend the place of evil and suffering in the lives of men? God says to Job I know you are suffering but let My greatness and My goodness be enough. Let Me run the world and trust that I will work all things together for good. And finally, Job got it. I repent. I did not understand. I bow before Your sovereign will and submit to Your plan in my life. James then says the purpose of this suffering in Job is to reveal the compassion and mercy of God. We saw how Job ended when we studied this book. In the end of Job we saw that: The mediation and blessing of Job pictures Jesus the only One who can deal with sin and suffering. Job s suffering was meant to point to the compassion and mercy of God in Christ. In the same way our suffering can point to the compassion and mercy of God in Christ. So here is James point: The absolute sovereignty of God His plan in our life, in Christ, in Redemption, in Judgment, in Eternity should encourage us to strive to suffer patiently until His kingdom comes. This is part of God s plan for our lives. But, James has a final warning verse 12: 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. 21

If you say you believe God is sovereign, and that God has a plan for your life that leads to good, and that God is coming again in judgment, vindication and redemption then live it. Don t just hear it or say it live it! If God sends suffering suffer patiently and in faith. Do not be found grumbling. Do not be found abandoning the faith and living for self. Do not be found making ME decisions instead of kingdom decisions. Brothers and sisters, you can argue this with me if you like I prefer you didn t but you can I am convinced the essence of true Reformed Theology is not just getting our doctrine on election and covenants and the atonement right. Don t get me wrong they are important at times they are crucial. But James would say what good are they brothers if they don t radically affect the way we live? The essence of true Reformed Theology is not just doctrine: It is to trumpet a God who is absolutely sovereign, sufficient and supreme such that it must radically affect every aspect of the way we live. I am so convinced of the essence of Reformed Theology I wish it permeated every heart here. However, there is an even bigger part of me that does not care if you are Reformed, Arminian or have no idea what they are as long as these truths of who God is radically transform the way you live. My burden is for God to be so sovereign, so sufficient and so supreme in your hearts that it affects: The way you make decisions. The way you handle adversity. The way you live every aspect of your life. I am often asked what is God s plan for my life? Well here it is: Make hard, sacrificial kingdom decisions. Decisions that reflect the King s priorities. 22

Then begin to walk down that path knowing full well God will shape your steps and since He loves you there may well be plenty of unexpected suffering and pain to mature you. And regardless of the path your life takes you need to submit to the Lord and endure patiently encouraged by the hope of His return and the Kingdom to come. If I have got this across then I believe I communicated James burden this morning. 23

God s Plan For Your Life (James 4:13-5:12 March 26, 2017) Main Point: Submission to a God who is absolutely sovereign, sufficient and supreme must radically affect every aspect of the way we live. Please pick a few relevant questions from each section and ensure the majority of the time is focussed on application. General Questions: 1. Does Reformed Theology bring you encouragement, concern, other, nothing? Why? 2. What do you understand as the definition of Reformed Theology? Why are there so many definitions and understandings? 3. What do you think of this definition and what would you change? A Reformed Christian holds to God as sovereignly determining every event in every time and place for His glory, His Word as our only sufficient guide, His rule as supreme over all creation such that submission to His loving kingship becomes the foundation of everything they believe and do. 4. Do you agree that true Reformed teaching should radically affect the way we live? 5. How does the sovereignty of God affect our decision making? 6. What does it mean, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that? 7. How does the coming judgment encourage steadfastness? Application Questions: 1. How do you believe you should make important life decisions? What principles are involved? 2. How should you include God s sovereignty and our limitedness in your decision making? 3. Are you a control freak or not? Either way how should realising He is in control affect your decisions? 4. Why is it so hard to submit our lives to His control? 5. How do we avoid arrogant decision making? 24

6. How does God s sovereignty and His certain return help us to consider trials as joy? 7. What decisions in your life are sin? What areas of your life and what life decisions may need to be reviewed if God and His kingship are your priority? 25