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Introduction and Context Setting

Once again, a very good morning. Thank you for joining us today as we continue our journey through the book of James. I start with this paragraph. It says ‘I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway. And more, much more than this, nobody knows I did it my way.’ This is not from the Bible, but these are lyrics from this song ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra. This is Frank Sinatra's signature song. It's a very popular song. I'm told it holds the record in UK, being in the top 40 for 75 weeks. That's about one and a half years, a long, long time. And this is the song that is most played in people's funerals in UK. See, people love to sing this song, people love to mark their lives saying, “I did it my way. I lived my life on my own terms.” Well, if Julius Caesar were to live during these times, or if Frank Sinatra would have sung this song during his time, he would have been very happy, because Julius Caesar's famous quote is, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered, I did it my way.’ It's the same hubris and arrogance by which Napoleon said, “Circumstances - what are circumstances? I make circumstances.” Well, this, I think, is beautifully captured in four words in the Chinese language, which goes, ‘ren ding sheng tian’. In other words, man's will can overcome the heavens, or to convey that idea that we control our own destiny in our own hands. Well, maybe some of you are younger people, you're not interested in Napoleon or Julius Caesar or Frank Sinatra. Frankly, they're too old. Maybe something more modern would be Mr. Thanos, who said, “I am inevitable. I can destroy all of universe inhabitants with one snap of my finger.”

The Sin of Self-Reliance and Arrogance

Well, this arrogance, pride, hubris is not just something that the world possesses, not just what people outside church talks about, but it's also what people in church can talk about. Because James writes to his readers and he says, “Come now, come on, you guys, listen up. Get this. You who say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make profit. You say this….” And we know the intent that he's getting to because in verse 16, “You say this because you boast in your arrogance, and all such boasting is evil.” Now for the past two weeks, we've been looking at James 4. We began by saying, what happens when church people fight. Then we looked at what happens when church people speak against one another.

Today, we're going to look at what happens when church people boast in arrogance. Very simply, let's take a look, first of all, at the sin. What's the issue here? What's the root problem? James tells us,

“Come now, you who say….” (James 4:13)

As I've mentioned, the word “come now” means “listen, get this, be warned.” It's a kind of warning and rebuke. It happens only here in James 4:13, in the whole Bible, and also in James 5 verse 1, “Come now.” So very interestingly, James uses these words, “Come now, come now” twice in the book of James to kind of tell us that he's linking what is said in verses 13 to 17 of chapter 4 and verses 1 to 6 of chapter 5, they are connected thoughts and yet distinct from the rest. So I think verse 13 to 17, as you would see, speaks about man's self reliance. “Tomorrow, I'll do this, I'll do that. I'll get this, I'll get that.” And there's a kind of independence, self reliance conveyed in 13 to 17. And if you look at chapter 5 verse 1 to 6, quick glance, you will realize James is talking about self indulgence, self reliance, self indulgence, distinct yet together, because they both convey what is self centeredness. Now, in verses 13 to 17, we then read him saying, with regards to that self reliant man who says,

…Today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town, spend a year there and trade and make a profit. (James 4:13)

And you see that there are five things that this man has planned. His itinerary consists of the timing, the place, the duration, the activity and the outcome. And he is very confident in and of himself or themselves, because he says, “we will” and that “we will” has to be understood as setting God aside from their decisions, because James later on says,

Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills…” (James 4:15)

So this is self deterministic planning. This is arrogance. This is saying I don't need God and I'll make my own plans. ‘ren ding sheng tian’ James goes on to say,

You boast in your arrogance, and such boasting is evil. And so whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:16-17)

So this is evil, arrogant, sinful, godless, self reliant planning. Now I want to maybe just highlight that

whoever knows the right thing to do…(James 4:17)

Yes, you can say it's a general principle, but to be I think it is better to be understood in this context, ‘the right thing to do’ is to make plans under the sovereign lordship of God, rather than to make plans in self reliance and pride. Now, if you make decisions apart from God, that is sinful, that is evil, that is boastful. So if I may just cut through all these technicalities, take a step back. What is James really talking about? What's his rebuke? What's the heart of the matter? It is this. It is an arrogant presumption that we can control our own destiny. That's his problem, or that's the problem he's targeting without acknowledging God's sovereignty over us.

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Let me ask you. Is James saying we should not plan? (Pastor waiting for response) Is he saying we should not plan? (congregation responded with a loud “no”) Okay, I'm glad it's quite a loud “no”. He's not against planning. We are, I think Singapore is a land known for good plans, long term plans. There's nothing wrong with plans. Benjamin Franklin says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” So we all make plans. We plan for our jobs, we plan for our education, we plan for our family, we plan for finances, we plan as a church. We must all make plans, but we don't make godless plans. We don't make self reliant, arrogant plans. Is this passage against making money? When it comes to money, you're not so sure. Is the Bible against profit? No, the Bible is not against profit. It is against unscrupulous, unloving practices, that's for sure. But there is nothing wrong with business, with trading, with making a profit. So we must be clear, these are not the issues that James is targeting right here in this text. What he's after is the arrogant presumption that you can control everything and you do not need God. That's the issue.

The Arrogance of Control and the Uncertainty of Life

Now it's very common here, I think in modern day society, that we might have this idea or this pride, because the reality is, you can control a lot of things. At home you have your remote controller. Last time, last time, when I was growing up, you want to change channel, you got to get up and go and press, press, press, press. Nowadays it's like you sleep there, like a tycoon or big shot and then you can just control your channels, YouTube channels. You can control your aircon with your phone. You can control your lampshades or your blinds with your phone. You can even tell “Siri” what to do, and “Siri” obeys you, right? You can control food delivery with your app. A lot of things are within your fingertips. So it's quite easy for us to think, I can control my life.

But James actually says, “That's not actually right. And worse still, this is not actually very wise. It's not very smart of you to think that way, because you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” The reality is, we all cannot control tomorrow. Frankly, none of us can even be sure we will still be alive tomorrow. That's a fact. And he also says, or rather this I think, is a throwback to Proverbs 27 verse 1. It's so similar, I think he might have just referred to it.

Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring. (Proverbs 27:1)

You really don't know. And then he goes on to say.

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

When I think about mist, I think about my secondary school, because my school is kind of set on a hill. And I always go to school very early, because I like to take the first bus, sleep all the way to school. And when it's early, no one's there, you can have the whole chair and sleep there. So when I walk up the hill from the bus stop, it's dark, or relatively dark, and there's a thick mist that will enshroud the field. But by the time we gather in the field or in the terraces for assembly, the sun will be up and the mist would disappear. That's what it is, just a very short time. There's a thick mist, but almost in a twinkling of an eye, the mist is gone. We think we will live very, very, very, very long. But the reality is, you don't know. And in the grand scheme of things, in from the perspective of eternity, your life, our lives is really just like a mist. You can’t control it, and it is more transient than you think. A lot of things can happen.

I read this week about a student who was supposed to take his exams, but because his classmate had a heart attack, couldn't take his exams. Would he ever know that this is going to happen? He can't plan for it. He planned his few years preparing for an exam. Who is to know he won't take an exam? Or if you are someone who has been keeping up with the news, you know that there's this tower in China that is in existence for 650 years. The roof collapsed! Imagine if you're one of the tourists there. Wow, so nice! (Pastor made the sound of the roof collapsing) Thankfully, no one was injured, I'm told. But things happen, or maybe one of you, or some of you have really smart kids, and they're studying in US Harvard, and now they are told to come back home. Who is to know that my great educational path will be disrupted like this? Things happen, and we simply cannot know nor control. That's what James is saying.

There's this lady, an elderly lady, 85 years old. She sold a house and was going to buy a new one, and her realtor, her real estate agent, will bring her around and say to her, in this particular apartment she's in. “Oh, ma'am, you buy this house. You're made, you're done, you'll be settled, because I'm sure the price will triple in five years.” The lady then said to the real estate agent, “Son, in my age, I don't even buy green bananas.” (laughter from the congregation) We got to have that mindset, life is not going to be forever. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow. It's like what Jesus said to that rich young or not Jesus said, but

Jesus spoke about a story of a rich man who said, “Oh, I'm going to tear down this barn. I'm going to make a bigger barn. I'm going to have a lot. I'm going to enjoy myself. So eat, be fed, be merry.” And Jesus said that God remarked about this man, “You fool! Tonight, your life will be required of you.” (Luke 12:16-20)

The Solution: Humility and Submission to God

The reality is you really don't know. So I think James is saying simply, “God is God, and we are not. And to make self reliant, presumptuous, arrogant plans is sinful. It's evil, it's foolish.” So the sin here is not against planning nor against profit, but it's that arrogant presumption that we control our destiny. We don't need to acknowledge God. “ren ding sheng tian”, that is the heart of the problem. James then tells us, instead of living in such pride, which is the theme, if you trace chapter 4, therefore in verses 7 to 10, you need to humble yourself. You need to submit yourself to God. In chapter 4 verse 12, you are not to speak against your brother, because when you do so, God says, “Who do you think you are?” Again pride. And now in verse 13 to 17, it's again pride. So the solution is really a humble submission to God. So in verse 15, James says,

Instead, you ought to say, “if the Lord wills… (James 4:15)

and I hope and I trust everyone will understand. This is not just a mantra you recite or meaningless rhetoric. This is not vain repetition. I think this you ought to say, “if the Lord wills” must come from a heart that is humbled before God. For a long time, Christians, when they write to one another, they have a post script that goes ‘Deo volente’. It's a Latin phrase that means ‘God willing’ So when Christians communicate, they say that they will do some things. They always, I think, remember James 4, and they write ‘Deo volente’, God willing.

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Now, this is not just something James says. This is also something Apostle Paul practiced. Remember Apostle Paul. He's one of the, actually he's the one who wrote the most number of epistles that we have in the New Testament. We see many phrases used. He says, ‘I'll return to you, if God wills’ in Acts 18. In Romans 1, asking that somehow, ‘by God's will, I may now, at last, succeed in coming to you.’ In 1 Corinthians 4:19 again, ‘if the Lord wills’. You realize this is not just an occasional thing, he writes this very often. 1 Corinthians 16:17, ‘if the Lord permits.’ In Philippians 2, ‘I hope in the Lord Jesus’. And then in verse 24, ‘I trust in the Lord that shortly, I myself will come also.’ This is not just by Paul, but these are also, I think, things spoken of by Solomon in the book of Proverbs.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

You can plan, but God is the one who establishes.

The lot is cast into the lap…

It's kind of a dice that you throw.

but every decision is from the Lord (Proverbs 16:33)

and

many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

Practical Application and Personal Testimony

So all that, I think, means, in simple English, simple terms today, one, you control your choices, but not your outcomes. I think that's what we need to recognize. We can make the best plans, but we can never control the outcomes. And as human beings, as people of God, we've got to live with that settlement. We've got to live, we got to acquiesce with the fact that we can never really be in control, and we must never aim for full control. It's not possible. You do not know what tomorrow brings. You don't even know whether you're going to live tomorrow.

So why live in that high state of stress and tension? You don't have to. We can control our choices, and we submit to God the outcomes. It also means that it is not wrong for you to make plans, but just to forget whose world you are planning in. It's not your world, it's God's world. This is my Father's world, and I can trust my Father to do what is right. I do what is responsible. I make my plans, but God is in control ultimately. Plan with a pencil but let God write over with his pen, and after that, you can erase your pencil marks, because the pen marks are the most beautiful things. Man proposes, but God disposes. This is probably one of the most common verse or verses statements that are well known by Christians.

And finally, a wise man bows before God before stepping into the future. So making plans under God's sovereignty would mean that we pray, we seek God's wisdom. It would mean that we are flexible and we are open to surprises that we did not plan for. It's okay to plan, but don't be fixated or obsessed about the outcomes you want. And I think this applies therefore to career. Some of you might be making career choices. By all means, plan. But if God doesn't give you that job, it doesn't mean he has forsaken you. It doesn't mean that you need to sit around and moan and groan, but you acquiesce again. You rejoice in God's will that he might have something else in place. It might mean that you apply yourselves to the realm of education in a different light, not all of you will get the courses you want, the path you want. It might have implications about your finances, implications for family plans, implications for ministry. But at the end of the day, the big idea we must get is we are not here to do my will, but we are here to say, “Thy will be done.” I think that's what Christian living is all about. It's not self reliant, not self deterministic, but Christians make the best plans we can, but ultimately yield ourselves to God's greater and better will. God's will is always better than our will.

One of the most exciting periods for our church, at least in my opinion, took place some 12 years ago in 2013. In 2013 we had a dream. We had a dream to come to Punggol. As many of you would know, we were made aware of a plot of land that we can bid for and build a church building. And the elders were made aware of this. We prayed through and it seemed good unto us that we should at least attempt for this site. We let the church know, and we had, I think, pretty much full support from God's people. So we had to strategize. How are we going to bid for the land? How much to bid for it? Because this is expensive, it's close bidding. It's not like you can know what's up. So we had to think through, and we came with, I think, a strategic plan. We had three envelopes, three envelopes that represent three bid prices. So I would station myself at the HDB office, that's where you submit your bids. And opening time was 9am to 12pm. So I stationed myself there because I want to know who are my competitors. So 830 we were there, I sat there looking out for who comes, because the strategy is, if no one comes, then you don't be stupid la, put so much money for what? Right?  So if no one comes, envelope number one goes in, lowest bid. If one or two come, I have to make a judgment call. One or two come, then put in envelope number two, a bit more, but not too much. But if a lot of people come, three or four come, or more than that, then envelope number three. So I sat there, waited for…don't even dare to go toilet, because some guy can just come and drop and go, right?  Don't even dare to go toilet. (laughter from the congregation). Just sit there and waited and four groups of people came. Envelope one and envelope two cannot use already. Four groups of people came. I googled. I recognized which churches they are from. Size them up a bit, kind of assess their financial power.(laughter from the congregation) I could figure out three out of four. I know where they are from, who they are. I mean, they came with an entourage, and they take photo. Really cute. Then but there's a fourth party that I have no clue about. He was dressed in black, just one guy dressed in black, bald man, never recognized him. I had a good feeling, hey, we have good chances. Because kind of, well, we have a strong competitor here and there, but I think we put in a strong bid. Envelope number three goes in. Exciting. Whole day waiting for the results.

It released at 5pm that day, and this is what we received. Oh, yep, we did not get this piece of land. We were, in fact, number three on the list. We put in a really strong I mean, there was a historic high for church sites, but hey, we were outgunned. And thereafter, I have never received as many messages from Gospellighters as that period. Never received so many encouragements from God's people as that period, because people were writing in. They say, “PJ, the Lord has used this event to bring our members together. May you be encouraged that our God has other plans. We rejoice in the Lord, for He makes no mistakes. Perhaps he wants us to buy a hotel instead.” I don't know who that person is, but maybe the next pastor will buy a hotel, I'm not sure, but I hope we don't. I see many people exercise their faith. I realize that we are ready for a bigger dream. The journey has begun. The vision continues, the pursuit of His promised land. Looking at a big competitors, we were by comparison, a small little church that punched way above our weight. Praise God for the opportunity for my children to be excited. They prayed, they waited, they gave thanks...and Pastor Jason, you okay? Did I look suicidal or what? ‘You mei you di, wo men hai shi bing jian zuo zhan’ (Pastor spoke in Mandarin) It means whether we have the land or not, we are still going to battle together. I truly enjoyed the process.

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And I remember Bas. Bas is a gentleman from Holland. He was here for a short time. He worshiped with us, and he went back and he kept in touch. And he told us that God owns the whole world. Love from Holland and so on and so forth. Well, as you know, we lost that bid. But I think what's really encouraging is the way God's people handled or looked at this seeming rejection. It was not a rejection, it was just a redirection. We trust that God still loves us. God has his plans for us, and really I hear no murmurs, complaints. No one said, “You see, you stupid la.” No complaints at all. It was just a sweet yieldedness of God's people. That to me was really the highlight in that episode. We went on as usual. I don't think the church missed a beat at all. The next Sunday and the next few Sundays, we just carried on business as usual, rejoicing in God, serving together. And lo and behold, eight months later, HDB released another plot of land for church. Now that is pretty much unprecedented, because they release land parcels only once in three years in general, but this is eight months, and when they release land parcels, it's always around Singapore. You don't stick in one town, but it's the same town here in Punggol. As you know, we saved $6 million and we got this place here at 39 Punggol field. (Applause from the congregation)

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Hey, God's ways are higher than our ways. We strategize. I don't think that strategy was wrong. Please don't think that that was carnal or I mean, I think that was just being wise. We don't want to, anyhow, throw money, right? I mean, just, just responsible stewardship. We planned, we strategized. The second one, we actually just said we're just going to put in a responsible bid 13 millions, and that's it, and God amazingly gave it to us. So I think that was a lesson for ‘deo volente’. You plan, but you do not know what tomorrow brings. You do your part. You do your best. You pray. You trust God. You submit it to His hands. And if God gives it to you, thank God for that. And if God doesn't give it to you, you still thank God for that, and you do what God has called you to do anyway. I think that is what submission means. That's what I think James means when he says, “if the Lord wills”. You should say, “if the Lord wills, we will do this and do that.” And I think, I hope to apply this as you think about your own lives, your career, your family, your finances, that there will be this “deo volente” that marks your life.

The Broader Context of James' Teachings

Finally, let's look at the significance of it all. I don't think this is just a good pep talk by James, just good advice, but he really is dealing with something more important. And I hope to remind you that that importance is seen in a way the book is written or structured, that James is written in a chiastic way, meaning it starts from the base, it goes to a high point, it comes back down a base, although, as the base is a little bit further than where we have been. So James starts this chiastic book, seeing these two sides mirror images with the topic of suffering in chapter one. Chapter two, he talks about self centeredness, someone who cares only about the rich. Because he is selfish in nature, he doesn't want to help the poor. Then we read about speech, about the tongue in chapter three. And then in chapter three as well, about strife, bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. So those are what we learned as we journey towards chapter three verses 17 to 19, that talks about wisdom from above. Now we come down the mountain. Chapter four verses 1 to 10, you read about fights and quarrels, strife. Then in verses 11 to 12, you read about… verses 11 to 12, you read about speech, and then today we read, I think about self centeredness. As I mentioned, verse 13 talks about self reliance. Chapter five verses 1 to 6 will talk about self indulgence. “Come now, come now”, pack these two together, and they are distinct from speech as self centeredness. And then, as we draw to a close of James, we will come back to suffering in James 5:7 onwards.

So if you bring these two things together, spiritual wisdom contrasts…spiritual wisdom, contrasts strife, evil speech, self centeredness and sin in suffering, blaming God, doubting God, being angry with God. Spiritual wisdom is to be seen therefore in sanctification, where you keep yourself unstained from the world. You are not loving the world, therefore you will not fight like the world. It contrasts bad speech with good speech. It contrasts self centeredness with true service to the widows and orphans in affliction and sin and suffering is contrasted by steadfastness. So James is saying, this is what a wise man really looks like. He's pure. He does not go after the lusts of this world. He watches his tongue. He has a degree of control over his tongue. He gives himself to meet the needs of the poor. And he is someone who is steadfast when he goes through trials and hardships.

So put it in another way, as we have been looking for the past few weeks, the wise is not just someone who graduates from Harvard, but the wise knows God's will, believes God's will that it is superior and therefore obeys God. He obeys God in these four areas, and thereby he lays for himself a good foundation for the judgment to come, almost like what Jesus said.

…a wise man hears the sayings of Jesus and builds his house on a rock so that when a storm of judgment comes, he stands…(Matthew 7:24-25)

James is not teaching that we can earn salvation with this obedience, but he is saying that our salvation is evidenced by our obedience. He goes on or I think we can go on to say, James is not teaching salvation by faith plus works, but salvation by faith that works. We are saved by grace alone, but this grace is never going to be alone. It's always going to produce good works in your life. So someone who is engaged in service toward others for the glory of God is someone who evidences salvation, someone who manifests real faith, someone who shows that there is grace in his life. This person is wise because this person obeys God. But the opposite is also true, the self centered man, either he is self reliant, he is arrogant, he doesn't need God, he doesn't want God in His plans, or that he is self indulgent, despite his presence in the gathered church, is not going to lay for himself a good foundation for the judgment to come. He will be one of those whom Jesus said, “I never knew you”. That I think is James’ point throughout the book.

Conclusion and Call to Faith

I said Frank Sinatra sang this song, famous song ‘My Way’. But do you know that he didn't really like the song, even though it became his signature song. His daughter Tina said he didn't like it. “My dad didn't like it. The song, however, stuck and he couldn't get it off his shoe. He always thought that that song was self serving and self indulgent.” I wonder what song you would play for your funeral. I hope we will not sing ‘My way’, or you will not play ‘My way’. But one song that I thought may be suitable for your…maybe shouldn't say such things, but maybe one song that may be suitable for a Christian is something like what Fanny Crosby wrote. ‘All the way my savior leads me.’ That's the difference between a Christian and someone who doesn't really know God, ‘Deo volente’. Let's bow for a word of prayer together

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All the way my savior leads me. I think that is the story for every child of God. No one becomes a Christian because he himself suddenly figured everything out. But when we look at the Bible, we are told that the reason why we can believe is because God first led us to himself. So let us as a church, worship him. Thank God for this grace that called us out of blindness and darkness to live in this everlasting light. Maybe today you are not a Christian as yet, but you have come quite a long way from where you started.  You started rebellious. You started criticizing the faith. But today you understand, and you almost want to believe. You are right there at the cast. Let me ask you, would you look back and say, ‘Yeah, God has led me in the understanding of the gospel and the Bible all this while, from minus 100 to now minus one, I'm almost ready to cross the line in repentance and faith.’ Then would you recognize his sovereignty, his leadership, and would you ask him today to lead you across, to finally surrender yourself, turn from your sin, turn from your self righteous works and rely fully on Jesus and Jesus alone.

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You know, James tells us, we do not know what tomorrow brings, but I can tell you from the Bible, there is one thing that will be certain. For God said it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment, will you be ready for the judgment? Because on that day of judgment, no one, absolutely no one, will be able to stand on that day and say, “I have been perfect. I've never sinned, I've never lied, never hated, never lusted, I've never sinned.” No one can say that. There's only one way you can stand on the day of judgment, and that is my Savior Jesus paid it all and so I pray today, God will lead you to believe in Jesus for yourself.

Father, thank you today for your word and bless each one that we would be able to recognize your hand, your sovereignty in all our lives. May we yield ourselves to your leadership. May we all say, “Thy will be done. Deo Volente.” We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.