Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go
to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a
profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will
happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor
that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead
you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this
or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All
such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to
him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
OUTLINE:
Ø 13 PLANS
Ø 14 PERSPECTIVE
Ø 15 PRIORITY
Ø 16 PRIDE
Ø 17 PROCRASTINATION
13 PLANS
Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go
to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit
They say if you want
to hear God laugh, just tell Him your plans. Like when AOC said, “I plan to run
for president.”
Psalm 2:4, 37:12-13, 59:8,
God laughs at the schemes of man against Him.
Other times rather
than laugh, He rebukes man’s plans, like in our text today, and the parable Jesus
tells in Luke 12:16-20:
“The
ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought
within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have
no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do
this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I
will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I
will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many
years (golden nest egg, IRA,
401K, retirement); take your ease (move to Florida); eat,
drink, and be merry (Play cornhole, golf, lounge by the pool).” ’
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be
required of you; then whose will those things be which you have
provided?’
Does that remind you
of someone?
Isaiah 14:13-15
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights
of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you
shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
So, does that mean we
shouldn’t make plans?
Jesus says in, Matthew
6:26:
Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father
feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Should we just go
with the flow, que sera sera, don’t think about tomorrow, whatever will be will
be?
Well, if we only look
at cherry-picked verses, it might seem that way. That’s why we must consider
the whole context of the Word of God and always consider the context of each
text.
The parable of the
rich fool in Luke was in response the greed of a man who just told Jesus:
“Teacher,
tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a
judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed
and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the
abundance of the things he possesses.” Luke 12:13-14.
Then, He told the
parable of the rich fool.
In Matthew 6 Jesus
was teaching about trusting God and not worrying when He mentioned the birds
of the air. The verses before and after read:
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not
worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor
about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body
more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air...your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27 Which of you by worrying can add one
cubit to his stature?
34 Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its
own. Matthew 6:25-27, 34.
We’re not
supposed to worry about tomorrow.
We’re not
supposed to put our faith in tomorrow.
But we are
supposed put faith in God as we plan
for tomorrow.
Plans:
Hebrew: machashabah: cunning
work, curious work, imagination, invented, means, purpose, thought.
Proverbs 12:5
The thoughts (machashabah) of the righteous are just, But the
counsels of the wicked are deceitful
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts (machashabah) will be
established.
Proverbs 21:5
The plans (machashabah) of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of
everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
We should plan (machashabah)
for our family, education career, retirement, especially, most importantly,
our eternity.
Matthew 6:19-21,33
“Do not
lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where
thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also...
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
God planned (machashabah)for
you from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 25:34
Then the King will
say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world.
... (41 “Then He will also
say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you
cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels)
From the
foundation of the world?
Whoa. Wow.
That puts it into...
14
PERSPECTIVE
14 whereas you
do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your
life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then
vanishes away.
Psalm
144:4. Man is
like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
1 Peter
1:24. For,
“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the
grass withers and the flowers fall,
Our life is but a
flash in a pan, but God made a Way for that flash. From Eternity past, before
the world began, you were a glimmer in God’s eye.
In America, about
8,500 people that were alive yesterday, are not today. About 1 person dies every
10 seconds; that’s around 360 an hour.
Just last week, three
kids that we sent Bibles to this past Christmas, could’ve been part of those
statistics. They were riding with three other friends, when they felt the urge
to get out of the car. They did. Shortly after, the car smashed head on into a
tree.
Life is a vapor.
By this time
tomorrow, I may be in Eternity.
Before your next
breath, you may be.
That should not scare
us.
Christians are Eternal beings with a Heavenly
Home;
strangers, pilgrims, of whom this world is
not worthy.
Whether we live a
hundred years, or a hundred days...
Life is a
vapor.
A precious,
priceless, vapor, that Christ died to save, but a fragile, vapor, nonetheless.
What’s worth losing sleep over?
Not the petty whims and
wishes in our plans of vapor.
But fulfilling our Divine Eternal Purpose and Calling, that’s worth losing
sleep, that’s worth fighting for, dying for, even more, that’s worth, living for.
What’s that look like?
The lost souls God has given us to reach.
Leave the 99 to search high and low for that one lost sheep.
Turn the house inside out to find the one lost coin.
It’s not God will for any to perish. 2 Peter 3:9
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Ez. 33:11.
Because He knows that once we breathe our last, then comes judgement.
No second chances.
No getting prayed out of purgatory.
Because this life is but a vapor, we must make the most of every
opportunity.
NO not for pleasure and
good times, but to make an Eternal difference in all those God
has given us.
Who has God given you?
Those you can influence.
What have you done to draw them to Him?
What’s your PLAN to do so? TODAY. It can’t wait.
Life is a vapor.
I don’t know what to
say. I don’t want to scare them away.
God knows.
Trust Him.
Preprayer (their
heart and yours).
Then open your mouth
and let God fill it.
He will
not let you down.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your
heart.
Serving the Lord is delight,
not drudgery.
Delight in Him and He
will put the desires in you that He wants you to have. That’s when life gets gloriously,
joyfully, awesome, because, then you do what you desire and delight
to do, with God’s blessing.
When we
have this delightful Devine Eternal Calling to pursue, why do we take our
plans so seriously?
Why lose sleep,
peace, sanity, over a vapor that vanishes, in a breath.
What if our
plans fail? So? Will it make an Eternal difference?
If not, don’t stress.
If so, then we probably
have the right perspective. So, stay the course, finish well, don’t
get entangled with earthly distractions that pull us from our Heavenly priority.
15
PRIORITY
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills,
we shall live and do this or that.
Once we get our Eternal
Perspective correct, the proper Priority should be easy.
If the
Lord wills, is simply
putting Him first.
Including Him first
in our plans, is the surest, way to victorious Christian living.
His plans
succeed.
Our plans fail.
It may not be easy, but
it’s always best.
Jesus gave us the
best example, in the garden.
“Father,
not My will, but Thine be done.” Luke 22:42.
“If the
Lord wills...” is not
just words tack on a phrase, like we tack, “In Jesus name” on the end of
a prayer.
It’s an attitude of
the heart.
God first. Period. In
everything. No matter what.
The more we mature in
Christ, the more dependent upon Him we become.
You don’t want to
drive a block without praying for His Protection.
I can never give a
message without telling the Lord, I can’t do this without You.
Notice,
the plan is still there. If
the Lord wills we shall do this or that... today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend
a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.
God doesn’t take your
life, your plans, your dreams, your desires, He fills them above and beyond all
you could ever ask or think.
The devil steals,
kills, destroys, Jesus gives abundant Life. John 10:10.
There’s
no greater fulfillment, than yielding your will, to His.
James 4:6-7
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
7 Therefore submit to
God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Which is great to
know because our next point is the devil’s favorite weapon of mass destruction.
16 PRIDE
16 But now you
boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
That word for “arrogance”
is only found twice.
The other time is...
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world or the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. 16 For all that is in the world—the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the
world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God
abides forever.
Life is but a vapor,
we are passing away, the world is passing away, but the will of God abides
forever, thus we must not delay, wait, or
procrastinate...
17
PROCRASTINATION
Therefore, to him who
knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
We’ve heard this before,
just with different words:
Be doers of the Word, not hearers only (James 1:22).
Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).
I know it’d be good if
I read my Bible, prayed, went to Church, stopped that bad habit...
I will. Later. Tomorrow.
Life is a
vapor.
To delay in doing
good, to procrastinate, is to miss the mark.
To miss the mark, is
sin.
Delayed
obedience, is disobedience.
Ephesians 5:15-17
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming
the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank You for this moment to
submit to You our plans, perspectives and priorities, humbly, without delay. Now
Lord, please don’t let us confuse submission with slothful. Convict us to get
up and be doers of the Good we know to do, that when this vapor has vanished, You’ll
find us faithful, soul winners and disciple makers to all those You’ve given
us.
Thank You.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
Prayer
Requests:
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James 4:13-17
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