In our previous lessons James has taught us that we are not equipped to be a judge of our brother.

God has not given us the wherewithal to do such a thing and if we do it, we have learned that in the doing of it we are setting up our own law system.

In essence we are discarding the law of liberty which commands mercy in favor of a law system without mercy.

When we judge, we set up our self as the standard that our brother or sister is required to meet, when we have never been designated as the standard.

It is the taking upon ourselves authority that God never intended to be ours.

Judging our brother or sister intrudes into God’s realm, for only God sees the heart.

Our limited view never sees the whole picture and therefore we cannot condemn justly or righteously.

Judging our brother or sister is therefore an act of arrogance.

To be arrogant is to assume.

Be careful of assuming about others for assuming is full of error possibilities.

To be arrogant is making or having the frame of mind to make extravagant claims of distinction or an excessive estimation of ones self.

To be arrogant is to see one’s self with an undue degree of importance.

To be arrogant is to be haughty and conceited, lifting yourself up over others.

Paul in Romans told every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Paul continued in that passage in Romans 12 to admonish members of the body of Christ to be not wise in your own conceits, in other words don’t think of yourself as a know-it-all.

And in that same vein James in Chapter four continues to admonish arrogance for he now addresses the arrogance that takes place when believers claim future days as theirs.

So lets read of this in James 4:13-17,  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: ¹⁴Whereas 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. ¹⁵For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. ¹⁶But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. ¹⁷Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Claiming future days fits the definition of arrogance for it assumes that you will be around in future days.

We all do this but that is no excuse, for God tells us plainly that future days are not ours to claim.

Proverbs 27:1 plainly tells us we have no business assuming that we have a tomorrow for it says:

You can’t control what happens tomorrow nor can you even control what happens the next minute for this function is God’s prerogative.

What about that arrogant rich farmer, spoken of by Jesus, who had an abundant crop, so abundant that he said he would tear down his small barns and build bigger barns.

And then he basked in the thought of the plenteousness of goods stored up for many years which would guarantee him a rich retirement, a retirement where he pictured himself relaxing, eating, drinking, and celebrating.

His mindset was typical of most, for do we not all make plans for our golden years as if that word "ours" is the right word to use.

We are not guaranteed golden years.

Nor was he, for God entered the picture and called him a fool for the farmer arrogantly assumed that there were going to be golden years.

Yes, the farmer was rich toward retirement, but he was not rich toward God.

How easy it is to make assumptions about the future.

The hypothetical example James gives us in our passage for today could fit any of us.

We have all been arrogant about the future, not recognizing that only God holds the future.

James speaks of the typical businessman who has experienced success in business when he says in verse 13:

Now lets look realistically at what this businessman is saying, no, not saying, but assuming.

Now remember what the definition of arrogance is.

It basically means the assuming as yours of that which you do not have control over.

For this statement makes a number of false assumptions.

The first assumption is that this man is certain he will be alive in the future.

There were many this year around the country who were minding their own business and one second they had a heart beat, but one second later they did not.

A bolt of lighting determined that in some cases, a sudden car crash determined it in others, while in others the heart was worn out and could no longer do its duty.

The foolish farmer of Luke 12 thought that the future was his but not so, said the Lord.

Another assumption by this businessman was that he would be in a certain place at a certain time.

Can anyone assume such a thing?

Do we not remember God’s servant, Katrina, who moved thousands from well established homes to other places throughout the country?

God took a city and showed his power and sovereignty over thousands of lives and we have example after example where he uses a simple thing like the weather to show us that our place is to be determined by God.

I think about all those souls who, a century ago, sailed the unsinkable Titanic assuming they were soon to be in the place called New York City but were instead at the bottom of the sea.

And the Challenger crew, whose smiling faces are shown so often just prior to the shuttle launch, who were anticipating a period of life spent in the space station.

God is telling us that we have our place today but we have no right to assume that same place is ours tomorrow.

Someone has said this:  Yesterday is a canceled check, and tomorrow is a promissory note. But today is cash, ready for us to spend in living.

Another assumption that this businessman makes that he ought not to make is the assumption about his business expectations.

Happy days are here again for the money will be pouring in, he says.

It is an amazing thing to behold how much this occurs as you see small businesses start up with a bang only to fold in 3 or 4 months.

Where people put businesses in many cases is a guarantee of their demise.

There are good business locations but most locations are bad business locations and unfortunately many choose the bad ones.

And for this man to presume that he will start a business in a distant place, and that the business will succeed, and that he will be making a profit within a year is an amazing assumption and shows arrogance and the absence of humility and dependence upon God.

James rebukes anyone who would be so arrogant as to presume upon the future.

He compares the brevity and uncertainty of life to a puff of smoke, a vapor, that which comes and goes, that which has no certainty.

Think about the vapor that comes and quickly disappears as it exits your mouth on a cold day.

That is how God sees this life.

Remember the words of the hymn IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, GOD ONLY WISE" by WALTER CHALMERS SMITH where he compares us to leaves on a tree.

And the psalmist of Psalm 39 who recognizes the frailty of life in verses 4,5

God by his word shows us that life is not ours to will our future in this way or that way.

We are not the master of our fate or the captain of our soul.

James tells us that we ought not to presume but we can only say with great confidence, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or do that.

We have no control of our destiny but we know the one who does have control and we can go to him and ask about things concerning the future for he lives in the past, present, and future.

The Christian knows that God controls the future, and what God wills will happen.

It is not, "What will be, will be," as though no one is in control.

It is not, "What I will, will be."

It is emphatically, "What God wills, will be."

Therefore we should always speak of the future in terms of whether it is God’s will or not.

It is clear that James is pointing our the fact that our excessive focus about the future shows an arrogance toward God for it is an attempt to take away from God His prerogative.

And James calls rejoicing over these acts as evil.

And he concludes chapter four with this caution:

Now what will an excessive focus on the future bring to a man or woman?

This last verse tells us a lot, for it again brings our mind to doing good.

We know that we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

This verse says that because we know that, and in spite of that knowledge we do not do good works, James tells us that is sin.

So not doing good works is connected to an excessive focus on the future.

We are given as an example a man who focuses on the future by buying and selling in the city for a year and getting gain.

But he knows to do good and perhaps defers doing what he ought to do because his plans for the future take priority.

He may see a family in the church in great need.

God has given him money but with this money he has chosen to invest it in something that may or may not bring gain within a year.

Perhaps he says to himself, If I invest this money in this business venture I will have a lot more money to meet the needs of more families in distress.

I know to do good but one year’s delay will allow me to do more good, so therefore I will not use this money to help this family that has needs.

But James is saying this is a poor excuse for God deals with today.

He told us to pray for our daily bread.

He provided manna to the children of Israel on a daily basis.

God operates today. He says, Today is the day of salvation.

In Matthew 6:34 he told us to take no thought for the morrow,

In other words, there are needs today that God wants you to take thought of and to meet, and we are not to shun those needs in favor of some future need that may come to pass or may not come to pass.

Today’s need is what God wants his children to concentrate on.

That same chapter in Matthew tells us where God’s heart is in this matter for he says our priority is in the seeking of the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then we are told all these things that we need will be added unto us.

We instead say, If I don’t look out for myself who will look out for me?

Well the answer that resounds loud and clear from God’s word is that God will look out for you if you look out for his work!

We are not to let our vision of our future be an excuse for failing to do our duty in the present.

Your life is but a vapor and believing that should prompt you to indeed be about your father’s business today for today is all that you have.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand!

If you truly believe God’s word which says your life is but a vapor, and that you are here for only a very short time, that should move you to do the good that is set before you to do, and to do it without delay, not hindering your service by some future hope.