← ArchiveJamesMy Schemes and Divine SubmissionDateMarch 15, 2020SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextJamesPassages in this sermonJames 41:34Psalms 9017:30Matthew 1921:38TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Thank you. Church, I don't know if you realize it, but Bethel is blessed with incredible leadership.0:30From the staff who, Mary Beth leading our kids right now, to Jared as he leads in worship, to our safety team who monitor everything from the safety of the building to, we had someone even watching the hand sanitizer out front, making sure that no one ran off with that. And monitoring health situations.0:57I mean, I am thankful for godly leadership who leads the people in difficult times and in glorious times. And so I just want to thank you to everyone who serves and leads this church. We love you and appreciate you. Know that this day did not happen without hours and hours of thought and prayer as we meet together for the glory of God. Just a reminder that there is hope and there is victory even in the midst of chaos.1:26If we look at James chapter 4 today, the back story to this is several months ago, about seven months ago, we planned out the, really the sermons for the first half of this year. So this sermon on this day was planned, I think, last November. And in God's sovereignty, he reminds us that we are but a vapor and that we should not say1:57as I will, but as the Lord wills. What a powerful reminder and powerful truth. See, we've been going through a sermon series called Faith That Works. We believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is and that faith in Jesus Christ works in our lives. Not only does that ring true, but that faith in Christ works out on a street level.2:23So James would say, faith in Christ is now working out in your life because faith works. That's the hope that we have in the gospel. Some of you might have heard a man by the name of Bernie Madoff. He lived in upstate or lived in New York and he was a world-renowned financier, hedge fund manager.2:53manager. And most of you know the conclusion of that story. Ultimately, Bernie Madoff embezzled around $65 billion, with a B, dollars. Over 17 years, he pled guilty to 11 federal offenses and received 150 years in federal prison. But what's interesting about Bernie Madoff, he gave this interview to one particular person3:20and this was a comment that he said about the last five or six years of this Ponzi scheme that he had developed. He commented to the SEC, not the Southeastern Conference. I know we live in the South. The Security and Exchange Commission. He commented, I wish they had caught me six to eight years ago.3:44You know what Madoff was explaining at his heart at this time? He was really saying, I wish they had found out about my plans, about my scam years ago. Because if we're honest, most of us feel like we are building a house of cards and we are holding4:07on with bated breath, waiting for someone to find out that we are not who we say we are. And I hope that Bernie Madoff's comment would ring true to us today. That we could just simply say to God, Lord, that my life is not about me. And if my plans are only my plans, find me out.4:37Unveil my soul. That way, Lord, your purpose and your will in my life might triumph. That's exactly what James is addressing here in James 4, beginning in verse 13. He's preaching and teaching to men, most likely businessmen, merchants who have built their dreams and their hopes without thinking of God's desire in their life.5:05So my prayer for us today is, Lord, send your spirit to reveal our schemes and catch us today that we would surrender to King Jesus. Verse 13, James chapter 4. James says, Let me remind you, this was written thousands of years ago.5:30I cannot think of a more appropriate word today than the word of God.5:59You do not know what tomorrow will bring in verse 14. What your life will be. You are like vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you should say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or do that. But as it is, you boast in your arrogance.6:25All such boasting is evil. So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the reminder that any plan made without the master builder is but a Ponzi scheme. It is a house of cards that will collapse on itself.6:53And Lord, we ask right now to those who are here, those who are listening with us in their homes, that you would send your spirit to find out who we are. Reveal our hearts, Lord, that we would be different, that we would surrender to King Jesus. Lord, that we would not leave here, that we would not close your word and continue to build on a foundation that will collapse.7:19Oh, Lord, find us out that we might find you, our ever-living God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Today's message is entitled, My Schemes and Divine Submission. My Schemes and Divine Submission.7:47James, the brother of Jesus Christ, is writing to a Christian Jewish community that has been scattered in the diaspora, scattered throughout Israel and throughout the world, scattered like many of us are today because of difficult circumstances. And he's writing to this community saying, your faith should work on a street level. When you go to the store and everyone's panicking and you think you should panic too. No, your faith works out in that moment.8:17Because church, you're different. You're redeemed. You don't operate by fear and panic. You operate by power and love and, heaven forbid, sound mind. And I think we forget that fundamental truth. I ran into a brother here today, but I ran into him on Friday. I was doing some yard work.8:46He was doing some yard work. And we were just able to connect as if our days were as they always have been. Because in Christ, he is our protector and our provider every day as it has always been. See, your faith works out on a street level. So today, James is showing us a dichotomy between two different ways. The plans of man and the plans of God. So when I say schemes of man, those are the plans of man that are not based on God's truth, but on our power.9:13Does that make sense? So we're not going to leave here thinking, well, we just shouldn't plan. That's not what James is saying. He's saying any plan that you have and that I have without the will and the power of the Holy Spirit are foolish from the start. Schemes of man versus submission to God.9:39So first, we see this in the eternal truth of the Lord. We see that schemes start with you. Submission begins with him. Schemes start with you. Look at verse 13 again. James says, come now you, come now you who say today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there or do business and make a profit.10:02He says, don't you know that there will be a travel ban? How foolish to think that there will be no interruptions to my life because I have made plans.10:26You see, James is reminding us of the folly of the schemes of man versus submission to God. He says in verse 13, come now. That's the ancient version of saying ain't nobody got time for that. James is saying, where is God in this equation? You've planned your whole life out, but where is the Holy Spirit working out in those plans?10:54These are the schemes of man that have no power. It's clear that these people were within the Christian community, but they have planned their lives, their entire lives around themselves. And not around God. I believe in a way they were, in a word they were Christ followers, but indeed they were practical atheists.11:20They said when they gathered with the saints, we follow the one true God. But when they went to the marketplace, they threatened someone's life over toilet paper or hand sanitizer. They hoarded rather than gave lavishly and generously.11:47You see, we must be careful not to live our lives by word only to say, I am a Christ follower. But when our faith meets the street, he is nowhere to be found. Oh, that we would be found faithful and true. Schemes start with you. Submission starts with him. Look at that person. James says there is a better way.12:17Don't live selfishly. Don't live self-centeredly. But you should live this way. Look at verse 15. He said, instead, you should say what? If the Lord, and we can stop there, but James says, if the Lord wills, my life as a Christ follower should be about submission to the King of Kings, as we sang earlier. You see, submission starts with him.12:45James is not urging us to add on if the Lord wills to our prayer as if it is a magic token or a hashtag. He's not saying, pray your prayers as if you always have prayed them, but just pray, well, in Jesus' name or as the Lord wills. No, he is saying that we should wake up and live our lives and say, God, this is my plan. But I present it to you.13:16If you will, give it back to me. If you will, rip it apart. But, Lord, I desire to submit my life to you, King Jesus. Man's self-centeredness begins with me. Submission begins with Jesus Christ. And so I ask right now, will you let the Messiah reorient the rhythms of your life?13:42In a way that displays submission. In this moment, because of this virus, we have the practical implication of living out this truth. Follower of Christ, brother, sister, do not live as other people are living. Do not panic as other people are panicking. Do not hoard as other people are hoarding.14:12Should we live prudently and wisely? Absolutely. But as Jacob and Selina shared with their daughter in our hearing, you are called to be salt of the earth, a city on a hill, light. We are called to be different. Schemes of man begin with you. Submission begins with God. May we pray, O Lord, may our lives every day begin with you.14:39Secondly, we see this dichotomy. We see that the schemes of man, my plans, assume that we have time. Submission to the King of Kings reminds us of our frailty. And do we not see that unfold in our lives today? The Bible reminds us that ironclad plans without the Father are foolish from the start.15:04You think that your life is completely financially secure and ironclad? Okay, what happens when you lose 20% of your portfolio in a week and a half? How secure are your plans? You think that your health will always be picture perfect and you will be the bastion of vitality?15:29Okay, what happens when someone has a virus in Montgomery? When is the last time you were worried about someone who had a virus in Montgomery? Until this week. And yet God is confronting us with our frailty. God is saying, don't you know that your life is a vapor?15:56A vapor in the ancient world, especially in the arid times. Clouds would only form near the sea coast. Or the Dead Sea or the Sea of Galilee. Places where there were bodies of water. And the ancients would know that they would see the water vapor quickly ascend and then disappear as if it were a mirage. James says, don't you realize? I don't care how old you are or how young you are, how strong you are, or how weak you might be.16:21Don't you understand that your life is but a mist? A vapor? And James is not waking us up to that reality to say, oh no, the sky is falling again. James is reminding us that we are preciously held in the hand of a sovereign God every moment of our lives.16:44Do you not realize, church, this is what James is telling us. Do you not realize that there are 10,000 viruses that could kill you right now if God so chose? We cannot live our lives by fear. We must live our lives in submission to King Jesus who is our hope.17:13There is no bubble that you can make for yourself that causes you to live forever. That's why in Psalms 90 verse 12, the psalmist says very wisely, Oh Lord, teach us to number our days so that we might have wisdom in our heart.17:35You know what our community needs more than anything else right now? They need to look at a community of faith that says, yes, we are somewhat anxious. We admit that. But our lives have been frail from birth. They're not frail this week. They're frail every day.18:04And yet we trust that Jesus is the answer. We trust that the looser that my grip becomes on my life, the more I realize that his grip is firm and his hope is secure. The schemes of man assumes that we have time today or tomorrow we will do this. But eternal wisdom says we are frail in God.18:31God holds us secure. Recognize that today. Submission ends in our frailty. Third, we see from this scripture that the schemes of man assume that we have time and they start with me, but they also ignore the limitations of man. Often my plans ignore my limitations. And your plans ignore your limitations.19:01Look at what's going on here in this passage. James says in verse 13 again, Hey, come now. We ain't got time for that. People who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such continent or this place and we will do business and we will make profit. Here's what they failed to realize. That in one decree, all travel from Asia ceases. That in one press conference, all travel from Europe can halt.19:30You see, often our plans that are working out every day in our life, they ignore our limitations. There's nothing that you can create. There's nothing that I can create that rust, moth, or time will not destroy. There is nothing that you can do on your own street that will last forever.19:59I love what the poet Robert Burns said. Most of you don't recognize the name, but you'll recognize the poem. Legend goes that he was plowing his field one day and he ran over a mouse's nest that she had been preparing for the winter. So in that one moment, all of her preparation had disappeared in one strike of the plow.20:25And this is what he wrote from that experience. He said, But mouse, you are not alone and proving foresight may be vain. The best laid schemes of mice and men go oft askew and leave us nothing but grief and pain for promised joy.20:43The best laid plans of mice and men fail. But God. But God. You see, we must recognize our limitations, but we also must recognize that submission to Jesus Christ recognizes that the creator of the universe has zero limitations.21:06Is that not what Jesus says? He's speaking to people about salvation and he says, Don't you realize it's more difficult for a rich man to get into heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. And they say, well, if that's the case, then who can be saved?21:34And Jesus says in Matthew 19, with man, this is impossible. Is there anything that you can think of in the history of the world that does not fit in the category of all? Use your connect card. You don't have to speak it out loud.22:03Fill out your connect card. Put it in the offering bucket at the end. And if you can find out something that has ever existed that is not within the all category, let me know. And I will revise my statement next week. No, with God, all things are possible. And so for me to admit my limitations is a glorious truth that there are no limitations in Jesus Christ. That gives me hope.22:33That gives me joy that there are zero restrictions in God's will for my life. So, brother, sister, rest in the prince of peace. Rest in him. That his promises and his plans will not be thwarted. The best laid plans of mice and men go oft askew. But God has no limitations.23:01We see another truth in this passage. The dichotomy between my plans and the plans of God. My schemes begin with a plan. Submission to Jesus begins with his will. You see, I believe most of us have a tendency in our lives to start with a plan. Let's make a list. Let's get this done. And then I'll focus on the spiritual component of my plan.23:28Verse 13, he says, Come now, you who say today or tomorrow we will go here or there and we will make profit. He says, Don't you realize? You do not know what tomorrow will bring. James is writing to those who call themselves Christ followers. But these men and women have erred because they believe since they know about God, they automatically know his will. Without seeking his will.24:00We can never make the mistake because we claim the name of Jesus Christ. Everything we do is in his will because we know him, because we know his will. We are constantly called to abide in the spirit. Abide in Christ. That he is working through us and working in us. That's what God wants for us. So just because you claim the name of Jesus and I claim the name of Jesus, I can't write a plan and say this is God's plan because I know this God. James is saying, are you abiding in him?24:31Are you trusting in his grace today? Are you leaning back in his mercy? James is saying, I've watched you this week. I realize, I see how fearful you are. Tell me about that plan now. Are we resting in the hope of Jesus Christ? John Calvin says it this way. He says, we read everywhere in scripture that the holy servants of God spoke unconditionally of future things.24:56When yet had it as a fixed principle in their minds that they could do nothing without the permission of God. Even the prophets who could see things in the future believed fixedly in their mind that they could do nothing without his permission. Oh, I pray that that is a holy desire within our lives.25:22Five years ago, our family wrestled with this truth. How do you know the will of God? It was randomly one night before a Bible study. I received a phone call from someone in Alabama from St. Clair County that I had no clue who that was. And they said, hey, we're looking for a pastor. We got your name. I said, I am a pastor. God bless you.25:52Good luck. And I said, I'll do anything I can to help you. But God has, I love this church where I'm serving at. We still love that church in Louisiana. And they called back again. And they called back a third time. And finally, my wife and I just said, you know what? Let's just go tell them no in person. And that's, and we began to wrestle with what is God's will. Because God, I can only be in one place. We can only be in one place at one time.26:21And God, I believe that you love both communities of faith. So what happens in your life when you have the choice not between right or wrong, but between good and best? And we began to pray through that. And we felt through the word of God that it would not have been a sin to go either place. And this has really helped us decide. Our prayer was, God, what would make us most dependent upon you?26:50God, what would make us most satisfied in your enduring mercy? And at the end of the day, we felt like God was leading us here. Not necessarily because this place needed us more. Who am I? I have no word to offer you that will endure a week. It's only the word of God that lasts forever.27:17But we felt like, God, this would make us most uncomfortable. And this would make us most dependent upon you. And so we made really the most difficult decision to move here. And this is what we found. In trusting in God supremely. And trusting in Him and saying, God, if we are going to err, we're going to make a mistake. Just saying, God, we want to submit to you more today than we ever have in our life.27:46That we have had friendships here and that we would not have had ever. And that we've grown closer as a family here than we probably would not have grown in the comfort of our biological family there. So I just want to share with you, sometimes knowing the will of God and living that out is not as clear cut as you might want. We tried to open up the Bible and say, there is Bethel in the Bible.28:15But Lord, one of these Bethels, they made a golden calf. And we don't want to be that group. And we couldn't find a verse that says, go to Alabama or stay in Louisiana. But as we prayed, we found many passages that said, Josh, do you trust me? Lord, Josh, lean not on your own understanding.28:44But in all your ways, acknowledge Him. So what if right now in your life, as you're weighing the will of God, you're praying, say, God, show me between right and wrong. And He's saying, no, I'm going to show you between good and best. Good and full dependence. Good and deeper trust. Good and deeper submission. You see, the plans of man don't require the Spirit of God. Submission to Jesus requires the Holy Spirit in His life.29:15And so why do I tell you often that I love you? Because we do. We have learned to depend more on the body of Christ now than we ever have in our life. So we don't see you as family because I have to see you as family from the Word. We see you as family because you are. You are. That's what submission to the King of Kings looks like.29:42And so in our lives, I just want you to know I will give my life for you. Because practically, we uprooted our lives for you. That is my love and affection for these people and for this county. And until the Lord takes me home, I pray that He would be greatly glorified in us until I take my last breath. That's how we know the will of God.30:11Next, we see that the schemes of man make profits and pleasure the highest goal. But submission determines to make life about difference. Let me share with you what I mean. Those in this passage are thinking about their profit share. James is writing to men and women who want to be high achievers, strong leaders.30:39These are people that want to be in the 1%. And we would say that's a great desire. They want to make a difference in their life financially. They want to be financially secure and happy. But James is saying this. If your highest goal in life is to be financially secure, if your chief end is profit, what an ugly, difficult end that will be for you.31:09That is, there's no hope in that. It is life that values eternal investment over earthly treasure. That's what we need. We see how quickly wealth can vanish this week in the stock market. There is no dollar figure that you can achieve that will bring you eternal significance and eternal happiness.31:30And I don't say that to say, whoa, man, that's a horrible message. No, I tell you that because I want to show you where true treasure is. It's in Jesus Christ. Is it wrong to be wealthy? Is it wrong to be, to have abundance? Abundance. It is not. Is it wrong to hoard that and let other people die in need?32:00Absolutely it is. You see, I believe God has given us abundance to meet someone else's need. And James is reminding us of this truth. Arthur Simon, who's the president of Bread for the World. It's an organization, a non-profit that meets the physical needs of people who are hungry, said this. Sobering, quote, the problem is not that we have tried faith and found it wanting.32:26We have tried mammon and found it addictive. And as a result, we find following Christ inconvenience. He says we have found mammon addictive. And so, therefore, we find following Jesus inconvenience. Is that not what James is attacking?32:54He's attacking people who their chief desire in life is profit and nothing else. James is saying that generosity is greater than self-abundance. He's saying we need a heart that yearns for the things of God. Not yearns for temporary earthly pleasures. And so why is this virus and the epidemic, the pandemic that's going around the world, such an opportunity for Christ followers?33:22Because we have the very visible reminder that we live differently. Now, does that mean that you just don't buy toilet paper? And you go around saying, I just want everyone to know I'm sacrificing. This is a no-TP zone. That can be equally sinful where we beat ourselves and slash ourselves.33:43And I just want you to know, look at the whelps on my back. Look at my sacrifice because I love Jesus. Here's my toilet paper. That's not what James is calling us to do. But he is saying when you see someone in need, or when you get to the point where you're choosing your self-abundance versus the need of someone else,34:08that you say, you know what? You can have it. You can have it. One, because I love you. And God has called me to love him and love my neighbors. But two, I live with the very real power of the Holy Spirit that says when I am in need, I know my God will supply my needs.34:33That is the heart that longs for Jesus because it has submitted itself to him. We don't need signs at the door that says, please take only what you can use, which I read yesterday. We need the Holy Spirit within us that says, Josh, you are not about yourself anymore. You are about others and you are about my kingdom.35:03Josh, you are not about schemes to make profit and pleasure. You are not about your life and that's not the highest goal. But your goal in life is to honor King Jesus and to submit your life to him. Oh, that we would exhibit these lives. Lastly, schemes know what is good. Is it good to go to a country and do business?35:32Absolutely. Is it good to provide for yourself? Absolutely. The Bible says a lot about working. It says, consider the end. How hard work is a God-given innate desire that we have. But it's one thing to know what is good. It's the other to do what is good. Look at what James says in verse 17. He says, it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.36:00You know, we are prone to think of deliberate acts against God as sin. No, do not lie. Do not murder. Do not steal hand sanitizer. Or whatever it might be. Do not commit adultery. Do not make graven images for yourself. Do not issue or vulgarly speak the name of the Lord in vain.36:28We say, well, those are sins. But James is saying this. Church, when you know the good and when you don't do it, that is an equal offense before God. That is an equal offense before God. So I simply want to ask right now, what is good for you today? What is good?36:58How will you respond to the good news we see in James? What happens when you realize that your life is not in control? Anyone feel like that this week? Am I the only one? I had to go grocery shopping yesterday. Just normal shopping. And I told my wife, I said, I don't care what happens. I can do without food for two weeks, but I cannot go without coffee.37:26So I'm going in. So if you need coffee for a month, I'll give you my address. Priorities, right? Self-abundance. But I will be caffeinated through May. But I just remember thinking, I was driving to the store and I didn't know what I was going to encounter. And something stirred up in me saying, you know what?37:56I am not in control. And that thought pushed me to pray more than I've ever prayed. It's saying, God, you are in control. See, we have two options during these moments, as James has shared. We can either create a plan and white knuckle it. Or we can say, God, I don't know what will happen to me, but I give it to you.38:22So maybe the good for you right now is when we sing a song of response, you come and you pray for your life. You say, God, I have been controlling my life way too much. I give it to you again. But I give it to you. It would be sin for you to know the good and not do it. The number one secular song requested at funerals.38:48You ready for this? I did it my way. We are by nature my way people. And James is telling us that's not how you have been created to live and to seek. We are created to know God and make him known. And so if you are struggling through all of this with, God, I'm not in control. God, I need to create a plan. God, I need to sterilize. God, I, I, I.39:18Maybe you're good right now is just to say, God, I will come to the altar and I will lay my life down upon you. The author and the perfecter of my faith. Is your life marked more by submission to the king of kings or your plans and your wills and your wants and your desires and your knowledge? Oh, may we be submissive people.39:49If you would close your eyes, I'm going to pray for us and then we will have a song of response. I'm going to pray over us right now. I know that there are possibly people here who have never surrendered their life to Jesus Christ. And the struggle that you have is you want to submit, you want to surrender, you want to follow, and you go through periods where you are doing good. And then you go through moments where you had fallen off the wagon.40:20Will you take a moment to examine your heart? Have you ever given your life to Jesus Christ? This is what the Bible says, that if you would recognize your sin and then acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. If you would recognize this morning, God, my life is out of control and I need the only one who can put it back into orbit. If you would, by faith, trust in Jesus Christ, He will save you.40:52He will forgive you of your sins. He will give you eternal life and give you abundant life right now. And if that's you, you could pray something like this. Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. God, I know that I am out of control. But I believe that Jesus came and died for me.← Previous in JamesThe Humble Man Wins the WarNext in James →JamesMore sermons on James →
