Dependence upon God

A Sermon by the Rev Tan Kian Sing at True Life BPC, 15 February 2009

Text

“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (Jas 4:13-15).

Introduction

How do you live your life? Are you living your life as if God does not exist? We may not be conscious of it, but oftentimes our daily living does not show our dependence on God and His holy will for our lives. May the Word of God challenge us to examine our lives. Are we living in full dependence on the will of God or are we disregarding and disobeying God’s sovereign will in our lives.

Exposition and Application

In verse 13 of our text, we read James’s admonition: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and (we will) continue there a year, and (we will) buy and sell, and (we will) get gain.” The Word of God challenges us to check on the way we live our lives and going about planning and carrying out our plans. How often we do show that we disregard God and His will. Instead of having dependence upon God, very often we are self-willed.

Brethren and friends, in the days and years of our lives, we do get involve in many activities, we do set many goals, and we do make many crucial decisions day after day. But in doing all these things, do we disregard the God who is in control and whom we should depend upon? Do we go about in our lives, in our planning, in our ambitions, leaving God out of them all, and as if He does not exist?

If you do go about your life in these ways, ignoring the will of God and being self-willed, then it is very foolish of you. For the Word of God warns in verse 14: “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is  our life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Yes, life is so uncertain. None of us knows our future. Our future is in the hands of the Almighty God. And so God warns us not to boast of tomorrow; for you do not know what kind of day it will be (Prov 27:1). For you do not even know if today will be your last day here on earth. Are we not  reminded concerning the brevity and uncertainty of life through the tragic news of some deaths that occurred suddenly and unexpectantly?

In year 2007, a famous politician, Ms Benazir Bhutto – one moment she was speaking at an election rally, the next moment she was shot dead. Some years ago, a rich man who owned hotels had planned a dinner party. But he suffered a heart attack on the day of the party. His party turned into a funeral service. More recently, a young boy from Raffles Institution, who topped the PSLE in his school, when playing rested for a drink, but he collapsed suddenly and could not be revived.

Yes, we cannot even see ahead even for one day. Can anyone here confidently say at the beginning of each day and be certain if you will still be alive by the end of each day? Yet how often we make plans for a whole year ahead, and without any regard for the will of God in our lives. Do we not always say, “In three months time, or by next year, or two years from now, we will be living here or there, we will plan to do this or that, we will do our own business this way or that way, and we will benefit from whatever that we are planning to do?”

Are you self-willed? Are you depending and trusting and relying on God to see you through each moment of every day of your life? Do not leave God out of your life. Do not leave God out of your plans. Do not leave God out of your preparations. Let us not forget that it is in him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).

Dear friends, if you are running your life your way, and not considering that your life is indeed in God’s hands, and that it is He who can take away our life from us, anytime, then stop and think, before you go any further. Do not be like a farmer whom Jesus talked about in the Bible in Luke 12:16-21 “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. [6 times “I will do this or do that.”] But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

This farmer had a bumper crop, his barns were too small, so he decided to build bigger barns and have greater security for the future. All he wanted to do was just to take it easy, to eat, drink, and be merry in life. He did not care at all about God, the eternal destination of his soul; he could not be bothered to know God and do His will.

What was God’s response to his boasting of having plenty for many more years on earth? God called him a fool, and his life was to be taken from him that very night. Do you see the uncertainty of life and the foolishness of one who boasts of tomorrow without any hope of eternity in Christ alone?

Well, life is uncertain to us, but it is not uncertain to God. And so if you are living your life in full dependence upon God and His will for your life, then you can be confident of tomorrow, for we know that He is leading us day by day to an eternal future in Christ. We so often talk about doing this thing today, and planning for that thing in the future, but are we certain of our eternal future? Yes, we must be concern with things that are of eternal hope. Our days here on earth are very limited. God says, “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” How long does the steam that we see rising from a boiling kettle lasts? Well, this is how long our life is, in God’s perspective. We measure our lives by years, but in the eyes of the eternal God, our life is just like a vapour.

Moses in his prayer to his Mighty Maker in Psalm 90:4 said, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” No wonder he exclaimed, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” So if our life is so brief here on earth, we cannot afford to waste our lives. It is God’s will that we should spend our temporal lives here on earth in preparation for eternity. This is a wise thing to do.

Are you prepared for eternity? Do you know if you have the hope of eternal life? How to have eternal life in Christ? Jesus said, “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Believe in your heart and confess that Jesus is the Son of God who came to save you from your sins, and you have the promise of eternal life. It is a gift for your believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, friends, if you have not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and have not yet receive this gift, do so now. This is the gift and will of God for you in this life and the eternal life to come. Do not disregard it. Do not be like the fool who was trying to prepare for his future but was not prepared to face his Creator in eternity.

Now looking at verse 13 again, we note that one who disregards God and His will is one who is self-willed. Note how many “we will” is used here in this verse. Four times: “we will go, we will continue (ie to continue doing), we will buy and sell, and we will get gain.”

Remember that this is actually the way Lucifer spoke against His Creator, and for that God cast him out of heaven. All because of the sin of pride and disobedience! Isaiah 14:12-14 says, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Five times he said, “I will do this and do that.”

And so if you are self-willed, you have the characteristic of the Devil. You are proud and you disobey God’s will. You are not depending your life upon God. You are relying on yourself instead. You want to run your own life the way you like it. You want to be god of your life. And so for you who are a child of God, if you say you are depending upon God, then better check your soul before the Almighty God again. Is it really God’s will that you are doing, or are you in actual fact doing your own will?

Do you go about planning and making decisions in your life by your own will without any regard for the sovereignty of the Almighty? Do you say and insist on “I will do this or do that?” Or do you say, “Not my will, but God’s will be done” or “Lord willing, I will do this or do that?” That is, always conscious of God’s leading and control over all that you do.

For example, in deciding your career or mid-life career switch, in choosing a school or course of study, a place to stay, even your life partner – how do you go about making your plans and decisions? James says in verse 15, that in all things that we do in our lives “ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” Are we in the habit of saying, “If the Lord will,” or “God-willing?” Yes, we need to plan and make decisions in many things in life. It is not wise to live life or to do things haphazardly. The question is, do we pray and commit our ways unto the Lord? Do we seek the Lord’s will in all things that we do? Do we submit our plans to Him bearing in mind that “the preparations of the heart is in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD” (Prov 16:1)?

A true believer who trusts in the sovereignty of the Almighty God will always want to say, “If the Lord wills” in all things that he does with a believing heart. It is a constant attitude of his heart because he submits to God’s will to take control over his life. Are you such a child of God, conscious of doing what the Father’s will is for your life?

Conclusion

Dear friends, what is your attitude towards God’s will and how have you been dependent upon Him? Do you live your life with a total disregard of God’s will as you make your daily or annual plans and decisions? Yes, we need to make plans and make decisions. A responsible person does these things in his life. But as we do so, could we be ignoring full dependence upon God in leading our life? Do we seek to know God’s will and to obey Him?

Let us have a submissive obedience and dependence upon God. As true believers, we ought to obey God’s will and to be in total dependence upon Him. Let us not say, “To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain” (v13). But we ought to say, “If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (v 15).

May God help us to truly show full dependence upon Him as we live, even every moment of every day.