TEXT: James 4:13-17

SUBJECT: Exposition of James #9: Presumption

The people to whom James wrote believed in Jesus Christ. Hence, he often calls them "Brethren"--fellow members of the same spiritual family. Their conformity to Christ, however, was not yet complete. One thing was badly hindering them: pride. It was cropping up in various ways: in griping about their problems, in boasting of their faith, in quarrelling with each others, and so on. Like the "love of money", pride is "a root of all kinds of evil". One of its forms is exposed and condemned in the verses before us. Let's see what it is, what's wrong with it, and how to correct it. May the Holy Spirit teach us, for Christ's sake. Amen.

The paragraph opens with an attention-getting device, v.13a: "Come now" it says. "Go to now" the KJV has it. The words convey strong disapproval. Had he addressed them to his son, he might have said: "Listen to me, young man!" Every good parent knows there's a time to hug his children and a time to spank them. James is reaching for the paddle.

He is not, however, indiscriminate in his criticism. Not everyone deserves a tongue-lashing. Only those who do get it. They're identified in v.13b: "You who say, `Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'".

James is very upset with people who say such things. But why? What have they done that is so wrong? Are they being criticized for planning? They are not. Planning for the future is a good thing. Proverbs 21:5 praises it: "The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty". The thoughtful man thinks of the future and is ready for it when it comes. The hasty man doesn't plan; his impulsive actions land him in the poor house.

It is their presumption he finds so offensive. They're plotting their future courses without respect to God. Like the wicked of Psalm 10, "God is in none of [their] thoughts". I don't think He's been wilfully excluded from their plans, but something much worse: It hasn't occurred to them to factor His will into the equation.

Why should they? Everything is set: when they'll leave--"Today or tomorrow", where they'll go--"to such and such a city", how long they'll stay--"a year", what they'll do while there--"buy and sell", and what will come of their sales trip--they'll "make a profit". The plans are so brilliantly crafted, they don't need God's blessing to succeed.

Or do they? Yes they do. For the best-made plans (with multiple contingencies) depend on a predictable future and a continuing life. But the future is not predictable: "You do not know what will happen tomorrow", says v.14a. Proverbs 27:1 puts it this way: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth". Only God foresees the future. Therefore, our plans for it must always be submissive to His.

If the future is uncertain, then so is one's life in it. "What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away". Think of the steam that rises from a hot meal: how long does it last? Not very long. Can you retain it? No. Direct it? No. It is out of your control. And so is your life. Not all of the precautions and therapies on earth can add a single day to the life God has appointed you. David knew this: "My times are in Thy hand" he wrote. Because only He sustains life, we must place our lives (with all their plans) under His will. R.V.G. Tasker comments:

In sum: To plan without respect to the Divine will is presumption. It presumes a knowledge of the future and a mastery of life which belong to no one but the LORD. When we do so, we commit a grave sin. V.16 gives its cause, its effect, and its quality: "But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil". "Arrogance" is the cause; "boasting" is the effect; "evil" is quality of presumption.

This is an easy and perennial temptation. We mustn't yield to it. Let David's prayer be our own: "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me".

The opposite of presumption is not living without plans, but submitting our plans to the Lord, v.15: "Instead, you ought to say, `If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'".

"God willing" has become a saying to some of us. It's a good saying, if it's used thoughtfully. I don't think, however, we must constantly use it for fear of presumption. It's not an incantation. Rather, it describes an attitude we ought to obtain and keep--a humility before the Lord. Never was this attitude more clearly seen than in the Garden when our Savior prayed, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done". At the moment, our Lord preferred to skip the crucifixion--if it were possible. But if not, He would go to the cross without hesitation and with no regrets.

Do you submit your plans to the Lord? It's easy to say, "The Lord willing..." It's much harder to mean it. Do you? Here's a test: When things don't go as you planned, how do you respond? If you become aggravated, you are not submitting your will to His, no matter how piously you say otherwise. But if you take it patiently, knowing He has overruled your plans in love, you are submitting yourself to God.

Is this possible? It is. Paul fervently prayed for healing; his motives were good; he sought only to better glorify Christ and to see men converted. But the Lord said "No". How did Paul respond? With sulking? Let him speak for himself: "Mostly gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me".

A summary brings the chapter to an end: "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin".

James has put us on notice: It is "good" to submit our plans to God and to be willing to alter them if He should so direct. We now "know to do [this] good". If we fail to do it, therefore, we sin willfully. Deliberate sins are the worst kind; they flout the authority of God; they trample His Son under foot; they spite the Spirit of Grace.

Unless we're willing to daily, humbly, and sincerely subject our plans to the will of God, we're guilty of the most willful of sins, presumption.

Let us, therefore, submit ourselves to God. Let our daily prayer be the hymn: "Guide me, O Thou great JEHOVAH". His plans won't disappoint us; they cannot be aborted. Because "the counsel of the LORD stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations...then, of course, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD and the people He has chosen for His own inheritance". Let us submit to His will for our lives, and rejoice in it. "He has done all things well". Therefore,

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart,

And lean not unto thy own understanding,

In all thy ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct thy paths".