- 4 months ago
There's nothing wrong with making plans for the future. In fact, all of Scripture encourages planning ahead! However, the needs of the Kingdom must always come first. Make sure that your plans are aligned with God's and always be willing to pivot if it turns out that God has something different in mind.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
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From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Send me a friend request on The Torah Network: https://jaycarper.com/ttn
Follow me on X: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Follow me on Facebook: https://jaycarper.com/fbat
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LearningTranscript
00:00We are on James chapter 4 verses 13 to 17, and we're kind of shifting focus a little
00:09bit here from where James has been before.
00:13You know, this is still talking about how do you exist in fellowship with other believers?
00:17That's what this entire book is about.
00:19But he's shifting to a different aspect of it.
00:21Now, instead of how do you get along with each other, now he's talking about people
00:26who are in very different socioeconomic strata, and how do you deal with each other?
00:34You know, when the wealthy people are rubbing shoulders with the poor people, especially
00:39in this ancient world where those people normally wouldn't have anything to do with each other
00:44except as master and servant or laborers, you know, something like that.
00:50It was a big deal.
00:52People were having to adjust.
00:54This is one of the big things that set the way, apart from all other religions at the
00:59time, is that the way was pretty egalitarian in comparison.
01:05I'm not saying that it erases all distinctions.
01:08You know, there's only one way in which it does that, and that's in salvation.
01:12We are all the same before God, whether we are sinful or forgiven.
01:17But we're not completely divorced from our ethnic backgrounds.
01:21We are still male and female.
01:22We still have rich and poor.
01:23All of those things still exist.
01:25So if we're going to be coming together from all of these different backgrounds and all
01:29these different worldviews, we have to figure out how to fellowship with each other.
01:35And we're getting into specifically the socioeconomic differences here, rich and poor, essentially.
01:45In the slides this time, I actually put from the New Living Translation, which isn't really a translation that I recommend for study.
01:56It's not bad as far as just reading in order to get an idea of what the scriptures are about in general.
02:04But for really in-depth study, it's a little too dynamic for my taste.
02:08But as I've said many times before, there's no such thing as a perfect translation.
02:14So there's a lot of value in comparing translations.
02:18And if you read it in the New American Standard this week, next week, read it in the ESV.
02:24Read it in the NLT or the Tree of Life version or the Complete Jewish Bible or, you know, pick one.
02:28There are some translations that I recommend you don't use at all for any purposes, but New Living Translation is pretty good just for casual reading.
02:38So we're going to we're going to read it in that first.
02:42And as we read, we're going to do our usual thing where you listen for important ideas, any significant words or phrases, the concepts that James is trying to talk about.
02:55Starting in verse 13.
02:57Look here, you who say today or tomorrow, we are going to a certain town and we'll stay there a year.
03:05We will do business there and make a profit.
03:07How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?
03:10Your life is like the morning fog.
03:12It's here a little while, then it's gone.
03:15What you ought to say is, if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.
03:20Otherwise, you are boasting about your own plans and all such boasting is evil.
03:23Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not to do it.
03:29All right.
03:30So what stands out at you?
03:33What what big words, phrases or ideas did you notice?
03:38I will start us out with the business.
03:43Go and profit.
03:45Profit.
03:45Life, vapor.
03:54Okay.
03:55So this is a fairly short passage and it stays pretty much on a single topic.
04:01And that last verse tends to throw some people off, but it really is talking about the same thing.
04:05So just based on these words, you know, I already kind of introduced the topic, so that might probably throw off how you would answer this.
04:15But just based on these these main words, significant words and phrases and ideas, what would you think that James is talking about here?
04:23Just based on those things alone.
04:28Making your own plans or making your own way.
04:30I would say humility.
04:33If I was just using those words on its own, I'd be like business, profit, life, vapor fog, boasting right away.
04:40Just kind of signify his humility.
04:42Humility, like it's not signifying humility, but it's he kind of talks about the opposite.
04:48Evil, wicked.
04:50That's pride.
04:51Opposite of pride is more like humble.
04:55Plans, you know, we don't really control our plans.
04:57So it's like humble ourselves to put let God know he's sovereign.
05:02Making our own plans, ways.
05:04Yeah.
05:04Oh, I'm sorry.
05:05I would just say in humility all the time.
05:08I think that both of those are right.
05:10And that, you know, James is talking about mixing your plans with humility.
05:16Like when you make plans for the future, which is a good thing, you know, make sure you've got your priorities straight.
05:22Don't don't make it all about you.
05:25So let's go ahead and read this and, you know, break it down into smaller chunks.
05:29The NLT is on the screen, but I'm actually going to read these two verses in the ESV.
05:36I don't think there's a big difference here, but, you know, any kind of difference might.
05:40It might be something to talk about.
05:42So come now, you who say today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.
05:49Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
05:52What is your life?
05:52For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
05:55You who say today or tomorrow, we're going to a certain town and we're going to stay there a year and do some business and make a profit.
06:04Is James saying that this is a bad thing to plot with other people to go and make money of all the evil things?
06:12Yeah, we do have the example of, you know, how money or the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, depending on which translation you look at.
06:23And Yeshua warned us against putting money ahead of God.
06:28You know, money can be a master.
06:29And it specifically used the word mammon, which refers to ill-gotten gains.
06:33But is James really saying that planning to go to some town and stay there for a while and engage in trade, is this a bad thing?
06:44I don't think he's initially meaning like, don't do those things.
06:50But I think what he's trying to convey is make sure your plans are led by the Holy Spirit, by God.
06:59That's what I feel.
07:02It's like, if you're going to go do something, don't start making plans because, yeah, you can say all that and do all that.
07:08But just like you said, you can die the next step you take from a heart attack.
07:15Just simply say, I guess he's teaching us how to practice humility in everything and every walk we do and everything we do.
07:25It's kind of like praying without seizing, you know, practice humility and practice being guided by God, the Holy Spirit, putting him first so that every step you take would be his desires.
07:40Like a while back, I was praying, I said, God, you know, I want to do this.
07:44I want to do that.
07:45And then I would say, but Father, let my desires align with yours.
07:50Let my desires be your desires.
07:53Let these things that I desire only be because you desire them for me to do.
07:59And so that's, I think that's my two cents in that.
08:06Yeah, that's good.
08:07These couple of verses are very similar to some things that Yeshua taught that are in the Proverbs and in the Psalms.
08:15There are all kinds of places that parallel this.
08:19You know, one of them, I want to go to Isaiah, Isaiah 5, verses 3 through 6.
08:24Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.
08:31What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done?
08:34When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?
08:38Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
08:40I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed.
08:43I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.
08:46I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed,
08:50a place overgrown with briars and thorns.
08:52I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it.
08:56This is God saying that, you know, he had plans for Jerusalem, but Jerusalem and Judah had their own plans.
09:04And like you're saying, they wanted to do their thing.
09:08They didn't want to do God's thing.
09:11And so God had plans to grow sweet grapes in his vineyard.
09:14And Judah's plans were, you know, make, make alliances with Egypt and Babylon and, you know, trade with all these other nations and all of these things that they thought were a good thing to do.
09:28And they aren't necessarily evil in themselves, but they lead to evil.
09:34And the biggest evil was that they just weren't doing what God intended for them to do.
09:38And so if you're a tool in God's hands, I'm not a Calvinist, but there is some truth in some of the things that Calvinists teach.
09:47Most of its teachings come from the Bible, and I think that they've misinterpreted some things, but they're not entirely wrong.
09:54And one of those things is that you exist for God's purposes, not yours.
09:59You exist to his pleasure.
10:01Everything that you do is all about God.
10:03And so if you are choosing to do things with your life that don't align with God's plans or that are contrary to God's purpose for you, it's not going to go well.
10:15I mean, you might make money.
10:16You might get all kinds of good things in this life, or you might not.
10:20But eventually this is going to catch up with you, and God's going to pick up this tool and say, this is totally useless.
10:26I designed this tool to do this thing.
10:29I needed a hammer, and I've got a screwdriver.
10:31What good is that?
10:32And he's just going to throw you away.
10:34And that's what he's talking about with Jerusalem in Isaiah 5.
10:38And another one, probably even closer to what James is saying, is in Luke 12.
10:44Luke 12, starting in verse 16, Yeshua tells a parable.
10:49A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops, and he said to himself, what shall I do?
10:54I don't have room for all my crops.
10:56Then he said, I know, I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones.
10:59Then I'll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.
11:01And I'll sit back and say to myself, my friend, you have enough stored away for years to come.
11:06Now take it easy.
11:07Eat, drink, and be merry.
11:09But God said to him, you fool, you will die this very night.
11:12Then who will get everything you worked for?
11:15Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth, but not have a rich relationship with God.
11:21Saying very much the same thing that Isaiah 5 said in that James is saying here in chapter 4.
11:27You know, the things that this guy planned to do weren't bad in themselves.
11:32It's not bad to tear down a barn and build a bigger one.
11:36It's not bad to plant crops and to have a great harvest.
11:40It's not bad to store up wealth.
11:42It's not even bad to have fun, to eat, drink, and be merry sometimes.
11:46In fact, God commands that.
11:48During the Feast of Tabernacles, God commands us to celebrate.
11:52Amen.
11:53So the problem with this rich man is that he was only working for himself.
12:00He was only working for his own purposes instead of God's purposes.
12:05So he was trusting in all of these riches to carry him through for the rest of his life.
12:10He wasn't acting prudently.
12:13Work with the assumption that everything isn't going to go your way.
12:16Because life isn't about you.
12:18It's God has his plans and your plans aren't necessarily going to align.
12:24And just like what James says in verse 14, how do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?
12:29Maybe you're just going to fade away.
12:31That's exactly what Yeshua said about this rich man.
12:34Because he worked for himself and trusted in his own power and wealth.
12:39God says, I'm done with you.
12:42You are a useless tool to me.
12:44I have no further use for you.
12:45In verse 14, there's a couple other places I want to go to here.
12:51Proverbs 27.
12:55Proverbs 27, verse 1.
12:57And I would bet anything that James had this verse in mind when he wrote this.
13:01Don't brag about tomorrow since you don't know what the day will bring.
13:06In Psalm 103, I'm pretty sure he also had this one in mind.
13:10Psalm 103, verses 15 to 18.
13:12Our days on earth are like grass, like wildflowers.
13:17We bloom and die.
13:18The wind blows and we are gone as though we had never been here.
13:22But the love of Yahweh remains forever with those who fear him.
13:25His salvation extends to the children's children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments.
13:31And Shubha says, it reminds her of Matthew 6, not to lay up treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in heaven.
13:40Yeah, that's very true.
13:41I think a lot of this, of what James is writing, is hearkening back directly to the Sermon on the Mount.
13:49In Matthew chapters 5 through 7, there are a lot of parallels in here.
13:54And that's where most Christian commentators will go.
13:57They'll connect the book of James back to the Sermon on the Mount.
14:01And those connections are definitely there.
14:03I'm certain that James had that in mind.
14:06I tend to think that there are stronger connections back to Leviticus 19 and Proverbs 3,
14:11and that that's what he was using as the basis for his text.
14:14But he was keeping the Sermon on the Mount in mind as he wrote it, I'm sure.
14:21Yeah, I had another thought, which I hadn't put in my notes because I just thought of it as you guys were talking earlier.
14:30This isn't just about making money.
14:33This is about other kinds of plans, too.
14:35You know, I have had plans for our local fellowship or the way that I think the world should work.
14:43I have this idea that these are the things that we should be working toward.
14:48This is how we should be structuring things.
14:50And this is the long-term plan.
14:52We're going to set up this system so that these things happen.
14:55Well, what if that's just not God's plan?
14:58We have to be willing to consider that.
15:01And that doesn't mean that my plans or whoever's plans are wrong.
15:06But we always have to keep in mind that the needs of the kingdom come first.
15:11It's never about me.
15:12It's never about you.
15:13It's about all of us, the kingdom and God's glory.
15:18You know, it's a good thing to make plans and then to act on them.
15:21And I think God rewards that, especially if your heart is for his kingdom.
15:26But just be prepared to pivot because God might have a different idea of where he wants you to go.
15:30Consider the Hebrews in the wilderness.
15:34He led them straight from Egypt over to the promised land, but he knew what was going to happen.
15:38He knew that they were going to get there and they were not going to be able to face their enemies and they were going to be afraid.
15:44So he had 42 stops planned in the wilderness so that they could learn to live with him.
15:51And he took a very roundabout kind of way to get back to where they were supposed to be.
15:56Sometimes that's what God does with us.
15:58We have to we have to be willing to change our plans to suit his because he has a different idea of what needs to happen.
16:09Verses 15 and 16.
16:10What you ought to say is, if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.
16:16Otherwise, you are boasting about your own plans and all such boasting is evil.
16:20Let me read that in the ESV.
16:23It's not going to be much different.
16:25Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
16:29As it is, you boast in your arrogance.
16:31All such boasting is evil.
16:34Pretty similar, except for that part about plans.
16:36In verse 15, if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.
16:43What is the this or that?
16:45How do you know what that's supposed to be?
16:47Does anybody have any ideas?
16:50This or that is whatever you put your hand to do.
16:55Sometimes people just live their lives.
16:59And they don't do God's works.
17:02They don't do anything.
17:03But throughout their life, they're going on a journey.
17:08And all of a sudden, the Lord comes in at the perfect time.
17:12So their whole life, they've been doing this or that.
17:17You know what I'm saying?
17:18It's kind of like, and then they intervene.
17:21God intervenes and he's like, okay, now it's time for you to do my will.
17:25Or even your this or that could be already aligned in his will.
17:31It's kind of like doing what you feel is possibly right or your own in your own eyes, which eventually it kind of aligns to be right in God's eyes.
17:43So then he allows it.
17:44He allows you to do this or that.
17:47That's my interpretation of that for now.
17:50I haven't really got deep into that.
17:52Okay.
17:53What do you think, Alan?
17:54Is it the same this or that that was in verse 13 and 14, but just acknowledging the sovereignty of the Father first and seeking his will first?
18:06Yeah, it certainly could be.
18:07I don't think that James is really limiting it because there's nothing sinful in planning to go to some town and make a bunch of money.
18:15There's nothing wrong with that.
18:16The sin comes in why are you doing it and for whose benefit?
18:21It's all your intentions and your motives.
18:23Yeah.
18:24And obviously there are some things that are just inherently sinful.
18:26If you're going to go to some city and you're going to kidnap a bunch of people and sell them into slavery, to use an extreme example.
18:34Well, that is clearly against God's commandments.
18:36You're not allowed to do that.
18:37So, what you're going to do to make money is important.
18:42Yeah, the this or that.
18:44It could be anything.
18:45It could be business.
18:46It could be a vacation.
18:49It could be ministry.
18:52I'm going to go to this city and I'm going to go preach on the street corner and spark a revival.
18:58Well, what if God doesn't want a revival in that town?
19:01What if he's got judgment lined up and it's too late?
19:04Or what if he's got somebody else who's going to do that job?
19:09There's nothing wrong with doing any of that stuff.
19:12The problem is, is this, are you doing it for you?
19:15Are you going to go and stand on the street corner and preach in that town and start a revival because you want to get the credit for that?
19:24You want the revival to be named after you or in the, you know, the news reports or the history books or whatever.
19:33Or are you wanting to grow the kingdom and give God glory?
19:39Would you be happy to go and do this if you never got the credit for it?
19:43And, you know, this is what he's talking about when he says, otherwise you're boasting about your plans or in the ESV, you are boasting in your arrogance.
19:53So if you believe that your plans are better than God's plans or, you know, you've got a good idea and God should just listen to you and say, hey, God, here's the right marketing plan for this.
20:08We can get so many more people.
20:09We can get so many more names on these cards and so, so many more people who have said the sinner's prayer.
20:17If we do it this way, you know, we're going to have the world's giant, the world's biggest ice cream sundae and attract everybody to the park.
20:25Well, yeah, you might get a bunch of names on, on cards and you might have a whole bunch of people who said the sinner's prayer.
20:32But did you make any disciples?
20:33This is arrogance to say, I've got a better plan for building the kingdom than what God has made.
20:46God didn't command us to go out and get people to repeat the sinner's prayer.
20:52That's not what he said.
20:53He said, preach the gospel, which is repentance.
20:59Teach people to repent from their sins, keep the commandments, put their faith in Yeshua and then make disciples, teach them how to live.
21:08That's what he told us to do.
21:11Amen.
21:13Let's see.
21:14And all such boasting is evil.
21:20Hmm.
21:21Trying to see if I have anything else to say about that.
21:23Anybody else have any comments or thoughts on these two verses?
21:27I don't know why.
21:28Just recently, I've been referencing a lot from Ecclesiastes.
21:32It's a great book.
21:33And, um, yes, it just, I don't know why, I don't know why it's just coming up, but a lot of what James is talking about, um, it's, um, it's talked about, about humility, because
21:49in the end, in the end, in the end of the whole matter, and in a couple of chapters, he says, in the end, you know, God is the one, you know, he's the one who's going to judge us.
22:03And at the end of the whole matter, you know, it's, we're here, we're created by him, we should obey his commandments, because we're going to be judged for everything we say and everything we do.
22:13So it's, I think that's kind of saying, that's kind of what, in a way, he's not, he's not specifically saying those words or meaning that, but it just, that just reminds me of that, because he's saying, and, you know, it says, what you ought to say is,
22:31if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that, otherwise, you are boasting about your own plans, and all such blessings is evil.
22:43When I, when I hear that, he's kind of saying, like, um,
22:48it's pretty much what Solomon was speaking, he was saying, he went through this, he did this, he did that,
22:57and Ecclesiastes, it seems like he was boasting, or, and also seemed like he was depressed, because he's saying that all is vanity,
23:05but in the end, he's telling you that it's not good to boast, it's not good to think about those things, it's not good to, um,
23:14to be too worried or concerned about these, all these things, because in the end, we all go to one place, we're all going to die,
23:21and we're all going to be judged, so, he does say, live, be merry, have fun, enjoy life,
23:28but he also recommends to obey the commandments, you know, to obey God's, his teachings, and, you know,
23:39of course, uh, and, dude, I applaud you for, you know, referencing the Great Commission,
23:46that's one of my favorite things, um, a while back, I'm sorry to go off the subject, but a while back,
23:51I was, uh, I had done the whole Jesus thing, I grew my beard, my beard's so ginormous, and I put a wig on,
23:59and I look like Jesus, and that was a verse I had to memorize, this was a baby about 10 years ago,
24:05and for some, for some reason, um, that is instilled, and there's a lot to unpack, just in his
24:13great commission, that's, there's a lot to unpack there, you can, there's a lot in there, if we can
24:19just talk about that one day, man, it can, you can pull up verses from throughout the whole Bible,
24:25just on that, because you're right, he does tell us, he says, go, therefore, and teach, you know,
24:31go make disciples, make disciples of all, and what is, what is involved in making disciples,
24:37how did he make disciples, he taught them, he taught them in parables, you have to teach people in,
24:43and, like, different types of words, because you want them to ask questions, you want them to seek,
24:48like, what does this guy talk, what is he, what is he trying to tell me, if they really want to know
24:52God, in a way, he was kind of weeding them out, because he already chosen his 12, remember when he
24:58had that one parable, he didn't, about the soil, and they didn't understand, he's already chosen, he
25:02says, well, I tell you this, because you're already chosen, but then, I tell him in parables, he's like,
25:06well, because some of them, those who told him parables, will be like, what is he talking about,
25:11I need to go seek this guy, I need to understand, what are you saying, and he even says it there,
25:16those who want to listen, will understand, they'll seek, they'll seek more to want to know,
25:22and those who don't, what they don't know, they, they're just going to keep living their life,
25:26and they're going to, it's going to be worse for them, so it's like, they don't, in a way,
25:29that's how I saw it, it's like, they're not going to know anymore, because they already chosen
25:34not to seek, maybe in another time, and chance, when, when that comes to pass, but
25:39I'm sorry to say all that, Dave.
25:42No, that's great, and, and I'm glad you brought up the thing about the parables, because
25:45I hadn't thought of that angle, but that's something that will be important here in a little
25:49bit, well, remind me that we're going to come back to that, if I forget, in these two verses,
25:55where he's talking about plans, and we're, you know, if, if the Lord wants us to,
25:59we will live and do this and that, clearly, there's nothing wrong with making plans, because,
26:05I mean, James says so right here, we will live and do this or that, if the Lord wants us to,
26:10and making plans is a good thing, in fact, if you don't make plans for the future, you are
26:16probably living in some kind of rebellion, because that's just fatalism, it's like, well,
26:22let's not make plans for the future, because God's just going to make everything happen,
26:26that's not how God works, Israel's place in the world wasn't in the wilderness, in the
26:34wilderness, God dictated everything that was going to happen, he said, okay, you're going
26:37to break camp here and make camp here, I'm going to feed you every day, you're going to
26:43do this, you're going to do that, everybody lived in the same place, that's not normal,
26:49normal life is when they came into the promised land, and God said, okay, now everybody strap
26:54on his sword, you're going to go conquer this land, and you're going to plant your
26:59crops and harvest, and you're going to live your lives here, well, all of that requires
27:05planning, and God said that as long as his people are faithful, he will go before them
27:10and fight their battles for them, but they are required to go and fight, you know, God's
27:15going to ensure the victory as long as they're faithful, but they still have to go and show
27:19up at the battle, God still gave them the victory, but they had to plan for it, they
27:24had to create a strategy, James is saying, if the Lord wants us to do this, we're going
27:31to carry out these plans, which requires you to have plans, and you can see this pattern
27:37all through scripture, Proverbs 6, verses 6-11 talks about the ants, you know, take a
27:46lesson from the ants, you lazy bones, learn from their ways and become wise, though they
27:50have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gather
27:54food for the winter, but you lazy bones, how long will you sleep, when will you wake up,
28:00a little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, then
28:04poverty will pounce on you like a bandit, scarcity will attack you like an armed robber, the example
28:11here is clearly that planning is a good thing, and if you don't plan, you're a fool,
28:15the key is to plan according to God's will, and with the possibility, you know, accepting
28:21that you may get God's will wrong, so when God corrects you, change course, pivot, don't
28:28be so stuck on your plans that you can't hear God's voice, that's where that humility comes
28:35into play, I referenced the parable of the rich man building his barns earlier in Luke
28:4212, immediately after that, Yeshua talks about the key is trusting in God, and this
28:48is what Shuba was referencing earlier, she was referencing the same, the parallel passage
28:52in Matthew, let me bring up Luke 12, verse 22 is where that starts, this is why I tell
29:01you not to worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes
29:05to wear, for life is more than food, your body more than clothing, and then he gives the
29:09example of the ravens, and they don't store or harvest food, but God provides for them
29:14in the lilies of the field, you know, how they, they grow, and Solomon doesn't, his glory
29:19didn't compare to theirs, he's not, Yeshua wasn't saying that we should just sit in the
29:24field and wait for God to provide everything, I mean, the ravens really do go out and they
29:30look for food, and they gather it, they build their nests, all birds do, they don't just sit
29:35in the tree and wait for God to feed them, but they don't worry about it either, they
29:39make their plans, they carry their plans out, and as long as they are faithful to God's
29:44plan for them, they trust God that either their plans will work the way they want them
29:50to, or that God will point them in a better direction, but no matter what happens, as long
29:56as they are faithful to God, God provides, he provides what they need, not necessarily riches
30:01and wealth, not necessarily an easy life, but he provides what you need, so the problem
30:10isn't wealth, or labor, or strategy, but it's more about for whom do you work, and what purpose?
30:19Are you working for the betterment of the kingdom?
30:22Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you, that's how
30:26Yeshua ends that talk, and by all these things, he doesn't mean all the wealth and
30:31stuff that you want, and a life of ease, he means things that you need to survive, to
30:36do the mission that God has given you.
30:40This arrogance here, the ESV translates this word as arrogance, and the NLT has it about,
30:48reads your plans instead of arrogance.
30:51I think that arrogance, I mean, it is talking about your plans, but I think arrogance is part
30:56of the picture here, because the rich man in Luke 12, he was working for the later years
31:07of his life, that was his goal, he was working for an easy retirement, there's nothing wrong
31:12with retirement, and there's nothing wrong with making a better life for yourself, but
31:18in my opinion, the concept of, that we tend to have in America about retirement is misguided
31:25at best.
31:27Our goal should never be, I'm going to make enough money so that I never have to work
31:31again.
31:32Well, you know, there's nothing wrong with having that kind of money, but it should never
31:36be about never working again.
31:38If God gave a retirement date for the priests, they're supposed to retire from being a priest
31:44at 50 years old.
31:46Doesn't mean that they stop all of their duties, it just means they stop serving at the temple.
31:51But then what do they do?
31:53Well, he's also given them the job of teaching Israel, teaching the commandments, being the
31:58elders in the gates of the cities.
31:59Not all the elders, they're just supposed to participate.
32:02They're the judges.
32:05They can go into trades, they can work their farms, they can, they still have to be the husbands
32:12and the fathers and providers of their families.
32:16So retirement in God's plan isn't stopping work and then playing golf the rest of your
32:22life.
32:23Retirement is, well, I retire from this thing where I have to work in order to survive.
32:28Now I can move into this other thing where I can give it all back, where I can take all
32:35this stuff that I have accrued in my life and use it to build the kingdom of God, use it
32:40to help my neighbors, to help my family grow and develop into something better.
32:46This is what it's all about, not about me.
32:51Our goal should be to get to a place where we can give back so that we can give the wisdom,
32:58the knowledge, the experience that we've learned so that we can take the resources that God has
33:01entrusted to us and use them for his purposes.
33:04And we can't do that if it's all about us, if we're just trying to exit the world early.
33:11Okay, moving on from that, unless anybody else has anything to add.
33:17Reading in the ESV again, the NLT is on the screen.
33:22So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
33:26This seems to be a complete break in what James is talking about.
33:32You know, he's talking about, you know, having money, you know, rich people making plans to make
33:38more money. And then all of a sudden, remember, it's a sin to know what you're supposed to do and
33:43not do it. Well, there are a couple of ways that people take this. One, they take it completely out
33:50of context and say, well, this is about sins of omission. God has commanded that you do this and
33:56you do this and you do this. Honor your father and mother. Keep the Sabbath. Whatever these things
34:03are. So if there's a positive commandment and you're not doing it, well, that's what James is
34:07talking about. Other people will at least keep it in context and say, well, James is rebuking the rich
34:15people. So, you know, the right thing to do is to give away all your money. Well, maybe for some
34:21people, that's the right thing to do because they have a problem with money. So they need to get rid
34:24of it. But that's not what he's talking about either. He's, this is where I want to bring up
34:30the parables that Joseph mentioned earlier. When Yeshua taught in parables, he did so that the people
34:36who had the right heart, who knew what he was trying to get to, would understand his words.
34:41Their heart was ready for it. The people whose heart wasn't ready for it, they wouldn't understand.
34:48James is talking about your heart condition here. Torah, God's commandments are full of do's and
34:55don'ts. Do this, don't do that. But the do's and don'ts are intended to teach you how to be like Yeshua.
35:04That's what Romans 10.4 means when it says that Christ is the end of the law to all those who believe
35:10in him. It doesn't mean that it's the termination of the law, but this is the goal of the law.
35:15The goal of God's commandments is to turn you into the image of God's son.
35:21By doing the do's and don'ts, you are learning the principles behind them.
35:28The entire Sermon on the Mount was about this same point.
35:31If you, it's not just committing adultery with some other man's wife. If you even look at her
35:37with lust in your heart, you are already guilty in your heart. You haven't committed a sin that
35:42can be punished, but God knows what's in your heart. And James is saying that there's no commandment
35:49against making plans and doing business and getting rich. There's no, no commandment against that.
35:56There's no commandment against making plans about your ministry.
36:02But the principle all through Torah is that your plans are to be moderated by God's desires.
36:09And they are for God's desires. Your plans should have the kingdom of God at its center at all times.
36:16And if it doesn't, then your heart's not in the right place.
36:19So, you know what the right thing to do is. The right thing to do is to live and to plan according
36:26to God's will and not your own. So, once you know in your heart, once you understand
36:32the principles behind Torah, then you live according to those principles.
36:37And if you don't live according to them, if you go and make plans and you could have two people
36:45side by side, they both make the same plans. They both go and execute them. One goes to this town
36:51and makes a bunch of money. One goes to this town and makes a bunch of money. They do exactly the same
36:56thing. This one's living in sin. This one is faithful. The only difference is that this one did it with the
37:04kingdom in mind. He was saying, if God wills, I'm going to go to this town and make this money.
37:11And when I come back, I'm going to use this to build up my local community's economy so I can put
37:16some people to work. So, we can help spread the gospel. We can make disciples. Maybe I'm going to
37:22build a school. This guy over here is doing it. I'm going to go into this town, make a bunch of money
37:29so that I can go home and live my life at ease so that I can be the king of the local community.
37:35I can be in charge and tell everybody what to do. Their actions are the same. It's the reason for
37:42their actions that's different. So, if you know how you ought to plan and what needs to be at the
37:50center of your strategy and you don't put it at the center of your strategy, if you don't put the
37:56needs of the kingdom first, then the same thing that was not a sin for this other guy becomes a
38:02sin for you because the sin is already in your heart. Does all that make sense?
38:09Yeah. What I'm thinking about is that it really does come down to our allegiance because our
38:17allegiance determines how we're going to order everything. Yeshua's allegiance
38:24to the kingdom was demonstrated in how he lived his life. And so, if he's like the model for
38:38everything, then it's not just what did he do in terms of his actions, but it's who did he serve?
38:48Hmm. And he didn't serve Satan when Satan tried to get him to bow down to him. He served Yahweh.
38:58That was his whole mission was around building the kingdom, was around doing the thing he had to do
39:04to make that happen and all that. And it's like, I think sometimes we get caught up in the minutia of
39:11stuff about all the details. But the reality is, is that first comes making the decision about where
39:19your allegiance is. And then, you know, you can start to make plans and, you know, figure out what
39:27it means to actually live like a member of the kingdom.
39:31Yep. Yep. That's good. And, you know, you mentioning Yeshua again, that made me think
39:38about something. Yeshua said that he only came to do what the father told him. He only came to teach
39:43what the father told him to teach. And people killed him for it. He voluntarily gave up his life. We can't
39:51pin his death. We can't blame it on any people group. We can't say the Jews killed Jesus or the Romans
39:57killed Jesus because he said, nobody takes my life from me. I give it up on my own accord.
40:03And this is another place where it may seem counterintuitive, but you can become a martyr for
40:11all the wrong reasons. Yeshua became a martyr because he was doing the right thing. He was doing
40:17what the father told him to do and the world hated him because of it. You can become a martyr by just
40:24being a pain in the butt. And I'm going to go and I'm going to preach the gospel and I'm going to go
40:30to the, I'm going to, I don't know, I'm going to go to Afghanistan and I'm going to go stand on a
40:36street corner and preach the gospel. Well, this is probably not what God wants you to do. This is
40:40probably foolish. And you get martyred or I'm going to go to Sentinel Island and try to evangelize all
40:47the natives on Sentinel Island. Well, that hasn't gone very well for the last dozen or so people who tried
40:51it. And I don't know what the plan is. I don't know how you go and evangelize them and disciple
40:57the Sentinelese people. I think God wants that to happen, but there's probably a better way than
41:05just walking up on the beach and getting shot full of arrows. That's probably not going to help
41:10anybody. And all you're really doing is showing your own pride saying I'm better than all the people
41:16who came before me. I'm just going to go here and it's going to work because I'm me.
41:21Well, you're just making a martyr of yourself for nothing and giving the kingdom a bad name in the
41:27process. So it doesn't matter what you're doing, whether you're making a billion dollars or giving
41:34up your life. If you're doing it for your own glory, you're not doing what you're supposed to do and
41:43you know it's a sin. Is he tying back into what he said last week or the last time we met in the
41:50last chapter about you ask and do not receive because you want to spend it on your own pleasure?
41:55Yeah. Yeah. Same principle. Yep. That's good. I think it's interesting because I was thinking of
42:03this particular verse also made me think about the rich young ruler because the rich young ruler,
42:10when he asked Yeshua what he should do to, um, was it to inherit the kingdom or? Yeah. Inherit eternal
42:19life. Um, and he tells him about, you know, are you, you know, have you kept these commandments
42:27essentially? And he says, I've done it since my youth. And he says, well, you know, here's what you,
42:33what you need to do. And he tells him, you know, go and sell what he has, follow him. Now he knows what
42:42to do. Now he has his directive. Um, and I think I never read it or thought about it this way before,
42:51but I never realized like, it's like he was, it's like a very similar kind of thing that you've been
42:59talking about, about retirement. I feel like the rich young ruler was like, like, if I do the bare
43:06minimum, can I get in? It was almost like he was asking with that in mind. Like, like when he
43:16responded to him and said, um, I've done all that almost like, that's cool. That, you know,
43:23that's probably going to get me in. Like, I'll just keep doing that. Um, but then God asked more
43:29of him. And I think, I think it's really interesting because there's a lot of reasons for
43:32that. But I do think that's part of the journey that we're all on is that when we begin to do
43:42things, especially when we build habits and lifestyle of doing the things that God calls us
43:49to do, then there's going to be other things because there's growth and there's new levels
43:56and there's, you know, all this stuff. And so I just think that like, I never really kind
44:03of thought through that and noticed that, but I also think it's like he was, he was getting
44:08told what he ought to do. And then now, because he knew, well, it's game over because now that
44:17he knows he's got to do it or not, not gain what he wants to gain, you know? And of course
44:28we know he goes away. So, and he goes away sad. I mean, part of it is because he has, he
44:36has so much in his own eyes. He, whatever he had built up, it was, and it's not, not just
44:43his wealth in terms of financial stuff, but just whatever else he had built up was too
44:53much to give up.
44:56Yeah. And I think that that's all good. And I agree. I think there might be another thing
45:01to that though. I'm trying to find that passage. Here it is. Luke 18. The ruler asked him,
45:08what must I do to inherit eternal life? Uh, I want to see what the word for ruler is
45:15there. Archon. So this is, this is somebody with power, a magistrate or a judge or something
45:23like that. So ruler is a pretty good word there. And in this world, if you didn't have
45:32money, you weren't a ruler. If this guy gives up his wealth, he also gives up his title, which
45:40is his identity. Yeshua is saying, give up who you are. It's not enough to say, I've done
45:48this and I haven't done that. You have to say, I am nothing without you. My identity is in
45:55you, not in what I have or what I'm doing. Yeah. And that illustrates that same humility,
46:02the same, the same process of like, it's not about me. It's about your kingdom. You know,
46:10I think that's, yeah, that's a great perspective on that. Thank you for sharing.
46:16Um, there's, I got something on this, if you don't mind. Sure. Go ahead.
46:20Um, I mean, I know it's just one verse, but I mean, there's a lot, pretty much James summarizes
46:30kind of like what Yeshua was summarizing. He says, what y'all are talking about, you know,
46:37um, the great, you know, somebody asked, what is the greatest commandment? And they ask him,
46:41he says, or he asked them, they say, well, love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as
46:46yourself. And he says, yeah, you're right. And then, and that's true. You know, you, if you honor
46:54God, love him with all your mind, strength and everything, and, and you honor your neighbor as
46:59yourself, you're following all God's commandments because, and all his instructions, not just like
47:05the commandments that are, there's his, his, his stuff. He gives wise advice and he's just being very,
47:10he's summarizing simple. He makes it in a simple word. He says, remember it is sin. What
47:16is sin? We all know what sin is. It's breaking the laws of God. That's it. Pain is simple. It's in
47:23the scripture. You can look it up, whatever. It's easy. It's a sin to know what you ought to do
47:31and then not do it. Now there's a lot of explanations in the Bible. And even to this day, we,
47:37there's some things that we ought to do, but we don't, or there's some things we ought not to do,
47:42but we do. Like, for example, there's, um, examples in the old Testament. So in Exodus,
47:50where it talks about when your enemy's ox, you know, if his donkey goes astray, you know,
47:55it says, take it back. You didn't say, Oh, this is my, you're not supposed to go. This is my enemy's
48:00ox. I'm gonna go take it, steal it because they did me wrong. And plus he's my enemy. No,
48:05what does he say? He goes, do good. What does Yeshua say? He says, do good to your enemy. He
48:09says, pray for your enemy, those who curse you. So these are instructions that always have been
48:15around. It's just like the old saying goes, or it says the old Testament is the new Testament
48:23concealed. Is that how it goes? The new Testament is the old Testament revealed. That's how it goes.
48:31Yes. And that's all it is. There's no contradictions in the whole Bible.
48:35And another example is somewhere in Proverbs when he says, you know, if your, if your enemy
48:41is hungry, as a matter of fact, Proverbs 25, verse 21 and 22, if your enemies are hungry,
48:46give them bread and eat to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. Now, if you,
48:53it is a sin. Again, it is a sin. If you don't do what you're supposed to do, you know, like you
49:01said, it is a sin. If you know what you ought to do, but then you don't do it. So he's
49:07summarizing a lot there. It's, it's a lot to unpack. There's a lot of scriptures to back
49:11it up and he's true. And what are you saying? And, and hopefully I explained a little bit,
49:16but I thought I put my two cents in hand.
49:17I'm so glad that I can put my two cents in hand. But what are you saying? And I'm so glad
49:22that I believe these things are great. And so we're going to be trying to connect the
49:26business in the community in the community. It's really hard to understand that. And I'm
49:28so glad that I'm going to be doing it. And then you're going to be doing it. And so,
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