James 4:13-17: If the Lord Will
2025-04-05
James 4:13
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: (James 4:13)
Consider the scenario, Christian men pondering what to do with their lives. They heard of the Lord who came and saved them by His own blood. They know that this world is perishing and will be destroyed by the Lord when He returns. They heard about how the Lord will provide for all their needs when they are in His service. They will stand before the Lord and explain their use of their time. However, they do not use any of that information when making plans for their future and how they will invest their time. They are busy seeking this world’s good.
Recall the people in the days of Noah and Lot. “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-29). They were all busy doing life, at best, without any input from the Lord.
Is such a warning for unbelievers only? “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).
Isn’t this something anybody could be worried about? I have been worried about my job because of the current circumstances, and I have been making plans like the men above. It is understandable. You want to be in control of providing for yourself and a family, making life work until you go to be with the Lord, thinking that day is a comfortable distance away.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). And again, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:31-32). But these men do not consider any of this when making their plans.
James 4:14
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. (James 4:14)
We just thought about how we always think the day of our death is a comfortable way off. We have all this time, or so we think. We can serve the Lord later, when we are financially established. Consider Luke 12:15-21. This covetous rich man made this entire life about preparing for a prosperous future and an early retirement. He never considered that his life was ending imminently.
“For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:9-10). This is Moses who wrote these words from the Lord. Interestingly enough, he lived to be 120, far above this number. But the principle does not change. If we all lived that long, it is still gone in a flash.
When you’re young, five years is an eternity. Now, five years is like yesterday. We learn the value of time as it passes. Time marches furiously onward regardless of how we spend it. “The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:6-8).
We cannot assume we have years to go out and do whatever we want to ensure future prosperity or security. It could all be over tomorrow.
James 4:15
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. (James 4:15)
The difference between this phrase and the thoughts from the previous verses is that the Lord’s will is at the center of decision making. The apostle Paul said concerning his travels, “But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power” (1 Corinthians 4:19). It was the apostle’s desire for him to go to Corinth, but only in the light of the Lord’s will.
Consider Joab and Abishai in battle against the Ammonites and the Syrians in 2 Samuel 10:8-14. The odds were against the sons of Zeruiah, but they came up with a plan and ultimately entrusted the situation to the Lord. The situation was favorable to them.
Consider Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:12-19. They knew the Lord was able to save them from fiery furnace, but did not know if He would for sure. They made their plans according to what the will of God would be: not to bow to the idol.
There are two parts to this verse in James 4:15. First is, “If the Lord will, we shall live.” He decides how long our lives are going to be. How can we argue with him if we think we should have a longer life than what we would receive from Him? It is His will; we must surrender to whatever His will is for us.
The second part is “If the Lord will, we shall... do this, or that.” Whatever we are doing in this life, it must be done in the light of His will. Even the Lord Jesus said, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). If Jesus submitted to the Father, how much more should we?
James 4:16
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. (James 4:16)
This boasting against the Lord, assuming that we know the Lord’s will for our length of life and His blessing on our arbitrary decision to do what we want, is called evil.
What is this boasting? It is used one other time: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). The word for “pride” in “pride of life” is the same word.
Consider Amaziah, who started off a good king but became exceedingly wretched in 2 Chronicles 25:1-22. You can see how this king started off by following the word of the Lord by not executing the children of those who slew his father. He listened to the prophet who told him to part with the mercenaries from Ephraim. He defeated the Edomites, and thinking he did this on his own, he was lifted up in pride and took the gods of the Edomites home. In this pride and boasting himself, he thought he could take on Israel also, but he was mistaken and was humiliated very sorely.
James the brother of our Lord may have had this proverb in mind when he wrote these things. “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). It is self-exaltation to presume that we can make our plans for tomorrow without the Lord.
So how might we boast, then? “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31).
James 4:17
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)
And what is that good thing that we know that we should do? We need to know the will of God and do it. Consider Luke 12:42-48. The more we know of the will of God, the more responsible we are to carry out that will. Otherwise, it is sin and will be treated that way when He returns.
Again, consider the man with two sons in Matthew 21:28-32. This is a little different from the previous situation, but just as applicable. The publicans and harlots heard the word, believed it, and repented to it, while the refined, scholarly religious leaders heard and scoffed. They heard and knew the word but did nothing with it.
Consider the false prophets in 2 Peter 2:20-22. Those that know the way of salvation, but turn back to the world, are in an even worse state than before they knew His will.
If we know what the Lord wants us to do, we cannot be slow to respond.