2014년 3월 23일 주일 영어예배 설교
야고보서 4:13-15

(James 4: 13~15)

     Most of you have more days to live from now than the days you’ve already lived in your lives. Some of you may have been thinking about your future job, and some of you have already decided it and got into that professional field. Many people change their careers during their lives and are in the midst of an unexpected huge life change. Not only that, but we must always, and need to make decisions about both large and small affairs of life, and especially design our futures. For us, Christian people, there are lots of clear and safe principles on that issue. Now, we are going to be appreciating the teachings and principles we must have in making decisions about our affairs of life, and why we need to follow these teachings of the Bible.

In this chapter, the Apostle James rebukes the people who have a double-minded heart. He means that they consider themselves Christians, but they are only interested in their own desires as the master of their own life. They try to take advantage of the gospel and the Lord only for their lives. They don’t have any notion that the Lord is their master and giver, and their entire lives are only for the Lord. So the Apostle James calls them “double-minded” in verse 8. Now, here, the Apostle James clarifies that only the Lord has the sovereignty over our lives and our entire lives totally depend on the Lord. In verse 13~14, “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”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” As the Bible always demonstrates, there is nothing wrong in ‘trade and make profit’ itself. Rather, to work hard for profit in each field, as it were, ‘vocational calling’, is highly recommended by Christianity. However, what the Bible always takes warning of is the wrong notion or attitude in doing it. Even though they must work and live for God’s glory, they always work and live only for their own desire and purpose. Although their whole lives depend on God, or God’ sovereignty and decision, they live as if they can control their lives all the way. So the Apostle James says to the people, without the notion that God has a sovereignty over all lives and who have the attitude that they can manage their lives, “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”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” Yes, it is really true that we don’t know what tomorrow will bring and only God knows, this is the Bible’s teaching. In fact, human being is not a sovereign and independent being as many humanists clamor. Only if it is pouring, Phillies games should be canceled. Only if we have a cold, we cannot help rearranging our schedules. When Japanese army attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, America had to change their policy of noninterference basis. The European Union dreamt of permanent economic prosperity through their economic alliance, EMU, when they launched it with the perfect, elaborate, and solid plan. But now, they are on the verge of collapse. What about your personal history? If he or she is the real independent sovereign, he or she is never influenced by any factors outside himself or herself. But actually humans are helpless in front of conditions around them. A human is not the sovereign, controller, sustainer, and substance of life. Above all, the Bible obviously teaches this point. In the light of this point, today’s text says this in verse 14, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” And he continues to suggest that we absolutely need to and must seek the will of God instead of our own will according to our desires. In verse 15, “Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”” The very first and most important thing before we decide anything is to ask and find the Lord’s will because only by this Lord’s will, ‘we will live and do this or that.’

Then, let’s examine the specific reasons why we need to seek the Lord’s will before all. To start, it is because of the perfect credibility of the Lord’s will. According to the Bible’s teaching, first, God decides His plan and will by Himself without any advice, counsel, and help because He has the absolute knowledge. Second, the Lord’s will established by Himself is never changed or modified because it is perfect and absolute from the outset. Third, nothing can interfere and interrupt the course of accomplishing the Lord’s will because He is the strongest being in the universe in the supreme status as the Creator, Controller, and Sustainer. The last point of the Bible’s teaching on the Lord’s will is that He makes use of and controls all the tangible and intangible factors He made in history including humans’ feeling, reason, many organizations on earth, natural and scientific laws and principles and so on in developing His will in history. Sometimes, even though we find some expressions seem that He changed His mind or will, especially in the Old Testament, we can easily realize that these expressions are just personified expressions to help our limited understanding on the deep will of Him. Therefore, the very first thing we have to do before all is to ask and find His will because it has an unchangeable and invincible credibility.

Second, the other reason why we need to try to find the Lord’s will is that the will of the Lord is best for us. The Bible says that the Lord’s will is most beneficial to His people even though we can’t recognize its benefits then and we face adversities in the process of its development. This is because all the things in this world in their beginning, processing, and ending are only for God’s glory and its result will be perfectly, absolutely good for His people. So if our affairs of life are involved in the process of the Lord’s will, it should be best to us. We must pay attention to these statements in Romans, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). And also we need to remember this crucial promise of the Bible, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). So if we really want to bring the best result for our lives, we certainly seek first the Lord’s will because “all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.”

The last point related to the Lord’s will we need to know is that God usually naturally develops and reveals His specific will through and by our environment and mind. When we try to seek the Lord’s will, we first must be sharply sensitive to our wish in mind. And we have to confirm whether it is according to the teachings and principles of the Bible, or if it is against the teachings and principles of the Bible, in Philippians 3:12, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” And also we need to be aware of the situation and environment in which we are now. In many cases, God works through the environment and people around us. In addition, we need to face up to the reality including especially our present ability and talent. It is a different matter from having great ambition and lofty aspiration. Of course, we can, and in some sense, must, have a big dream, but we have to consider the quantity and quality of time, efforts, and factors on a realistic basis for realizing the dream. This is the biblical way. Sometimes, God works in an uncommon and miraculous way. Yes He does! However, what is the Bible’s teaching on that kind of phenomenon? The Bible’s teaching is that the miraculous and uncommon happenings are totally, completely depending on God and it is the matter of God’s side, not human being’s consideration. We don’t, can’t, and don’t need to know what, when, how God will make wondrous things. We are just able to see the result of God’s wondrous work with a grateful and humble mind. Do you see that all the figures in the Old Testament who experienced God’s miracles in their lives were all just sincerely doing their jobs and tasks in their fields? God did it just on His own will; it is totally God’s business. Do you really want to see and experience God’s miraculous and wondrous things in your life? Then just live and try sincerely, faithfully, and steadfastly according to the teachings and principles of the Bible in your present situation on a realistic basis. I’m sure that God have “great and hidden things that you have not known” for you. Therefore, you should be based on reality in seeking the Lord’s will leaving the miraculous help to the mercy of God and expecting it. And when it comes to the facts, wills and principles related to Christianity, it is the Bible, or the ‘Canonical Scripture’ that is what has the ultimate and final authority on the matters. Sometimes, I hear some stories or personal testimonies talking about how they experienced the real heaven and hell in their dream, or in a state of coma, they saw some statue of the Virgin Mary shedding real tears, or they saw the dead raised and alive clearly with their own eyes. These testimonies can be true or fake, for me, I usually believe these kinds of testimonies because these testimonies are not that important to our Christian faith. The only reason why a real heaven and hell, the resurrection of the dead, and God’s existence are facts is because of the testimonies of the Scripture, or the Bible. Christian gospel is true because the Bible reveals and declares it, not because some witnesses testify their personal experiences. They might be true and I want to believe their testimonies. But their testimonies can never be anything additional to the Bible’s testimony, and their testimonies can never be helpful for the Bible’s credibility, and their testimonies can never strengthen the Bible’s truthiness. Personal testimonies can be useful or helpful for their personal life but they can never be any objective and authorized ground for the Bible’s testimony’s truthiness at all. This is because the Bible is already the only final and ultimate authority of Christian factors. We already have and confirm the very final supreme authority about our faith. So when you seek and ask the Lord’s will, you must thoroughly be based on the very revelation, or the Bible’s teachings and principles.

Everyone, those who make effort to find the Lord’s will certainly will find it. Those who follow and are obedient to the Lord’s will surely will gain the battle. This is the promise of the Bible. Did you even try this? Have you ever asked the will of the Lord about your life? Please remember today’s text’s warning “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” yet 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.” Please remember that your entire life is totally in God’s hand. Ask God about your future and all your life affairs. Ask specifically and honestly to God about your life. Call to God honestly. If you really want to win in your life as a real Christian, you must do according to today’s teaching. Only the will of God will be the best for your life. Chew over this promise of God to the prophet Jeremiah, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”