Lord Willing

6 · Exegetes the Greek term 'speak evil against' as slander, connecting it to James 3's teaching on the tongue as a fire, and defines verbal judgments as sharing rumors, false information, and character defamation

Look at James 4:11. "Do not speak evil against one another, brothers." So his first focus as he zeroes in, He zeroes in on the nature of verbal judgments. That phrase "to speak evil against" actually touches on a Greek word that literally means to slander somebody. So James is calling to mind again those sins of the tongue from chapter 3. And if it feels like we're dropping on those again and again and again Sunday after Sunday, it's because James is. He knows the temptation. He called the tongue what? A fire. Able to set everything ablaze within a community. And so he calls us to examine it. And this morning he wants us to look at the nature of verbal judgments, the nature of slandering someone and speaking falsely about them, speaking evil against someone when you share unfounded rumors or blatantly false information, when you seek to defame their character.

7 · Extends the exegesis to include unspoken judgments—the critical attitudes harbored in the heart—as equally condemned by James 4:11

But it's not just what we say. James also calls our attention to unspoken judgments. So it's not just the judgments of our mouths, it's the judgments of our hearts. It's the things that we harbor in our hearts. Listen to the distinction he makes in verse 11. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law. And judges the law. It's not just that we allow our tongues to utter things they shouldn't utter, it's what we allow our hearts to indulge in as we think about other people within the body of Christ. That's his point.

8 · Uses a cultural comparison between East Coast directness and Midwestern indirectness to illustrate that the sin of critical judgment operates in both spoken and unspoken forms, exposing the self-deception of believing silence equals innocence

Sometimes the spirit of critical judgment actually makes its way to our lips, right? Maybe if you're a little bit more of an East Coast flavor, it makes its way to your lips a little more often. Hannah and I lived out in Maryland and we talked about just the nature of the East Coast and how much more upfront and abrupt things were and it just seemed like there was a harshness and a rudeness, right? But if we're honest as Midwesterners, it's not that there's nothing in our hearts. We're just a little more careful to make sure it doesn't make its way to our lips, right? The judgments are still there. We just keep them quiet. We keep them silent. We let them brood, or we whisper them instead of speaking them boldly.

9 · Shifts from the horizontal damage of slander (harm to the church) to the vertical offense (assault on God's law), establishing that malicious judgment is primarily a theological problem rather than a relational one

Well, James is saying we don't reflect the kingdom when we attack each other with words and attitudes that are completely lacking in mercy. The issue isn't primarily about what this does to the church, though. That's not his primary concern. Here's what he's saying: these malicious judgments, whether they're spoken or unspoken, they undermine the law. God's Word says it this way: speaking evil, it speaks evil against the law, and in fact, it judges the law.

10 · Exegetes the deeper theological logic of James 4:11: the one who judges his brother positions himself as judge over God's law, attacking not just a person but the authority of divine instruction

So when somebody wrongly judges another brother in Christ, what James says he's doing is he's establishing himself as the judge of God's law. You see the point that he's making there? His idea is the critic, so the unmerciful judge, the sharp-tongued person, isn't just attacking the character of his brother. He's attacking the character of God's law. When we practice in our words and our hearts the things the law forbids, and when we do those things and act like we're not doing anything wrong, We're impugning God's law. We're impugning the instructions he's given to his people.

11 · Exposes the self-deception that characterizes gossip and slander: those who practice these sins typically do not recognize them as sins but instead justify their judgments as truth, helpfulness, or righteousness

Now think about this for a second. Have you ever met a gossip or a slanderer or a grumbler who actually was quick to admit they were sinning? Typically what describes those people is is they see nothing wrong with their speech. They see nothing wrong with the attitude of their hearts. They're blind to their sin. And it's not even just that they're blind, they usually often think that they're whispering, they're uttering, or they're thinking, they think it's true. They think it's somehow justified. They think it's helpful. They convince themselves And they attempt to convince others that the sins of their heart and their tongue drip righteousness, when really they spread fire.

12 · Personal testimony of committing the sin of gossip disguised as 'free talk,' illustrating the self-deception James describes: the preacher believed his conversation was justified when in reality it was slanderous, divisive, and treasonous against God's kingdom

I was personally convicted of this a week or two ago. I was having a phone conversation with a friend, and we were talking and conversing, and in my mind I had convinced myself that our conversation was justified. And what we were talking about, and specifically the person we were talking about, it was appropriate for us to be speaking in the way that we were. And as we were doing this, my friend on the phone mentioned another friend, a mutual friend of ours, who had spoken to this situation. And I don't even think he thought about what he said, but my buddy on the phone said, our other buddy, in talking about the situation, he's much more guarded in what he says than us. He doesn't speak nearly as freely. Doesn't that sound bad, right? It's just more guarded. Doesn't speak quite as freely. But conviction from the Holy Spirit just slammed me in the chest. And it hit me. What we were frenching up as free talk It was slander. It was gossip. In my lack of self-control, in my desire to cozy up to my buddy with sweet morsels and rumors, I had led us both into gossip and slander and sins of the tongue. I had sown poison into our hearts. I had perverted the nature of our fellowship. It was just unguarded, it was just free. That's what we were telling ourselves. And that's the seduction. I felt close to my friend as we whispered to each other. Right? But in reality, it was driving a wedge between both of us and the brother we were maligning with sanctified language. My speech wasn't testifying to the kingdom. The attitude of my heart wasn't honoring the King. In reality, my tongue was sowing division. I was setting ablaze in my father's living room. And in my blindness, I'd convinced myself that the fire was just actually nice and warm and enjoyable. 'Roast some marshmallows!' But it was destructive. It's treasonous.

13 · Escalates the theological offense from attacking the law to attacking the Lawgiver himself, exposing the full vertical dimension of malicious judgment as usurping God's unique authority to judge

Here's the deal. As bad as all of that sounds, the verdict gets worse. Listen to how James keeps describing it. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. Verse 12: There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? You see the sense of God's reign and lordship and sovereignty behind that text, behind that verse? The harshly judgmental person doesn't just attack his neighbor. He doesn't just attack the law. James says he attacks the Lawgiver.

14 · Traces James's allusion to Leviticus 19 to demonstrate that God's repeated covenant formula 'I am Yahweh the Lord' after each command functions as a reminder that His instructions reflect His character and covenant relationship with His people

Malicious judgments, whether we speak them or we keep them in our hearts, usurp the Judge. They unseat God as King. The critical spirit doesn't just attack the person sitting next to you, doesn't just attack the person in your care group, it attacks God. Here's why. Leviticus 19, and James is alluding to Leviticus 19 in several places in this letter. It's a part of the law that he's got sort of in the back of his mind. People are given numerous laws that govern how God's people are supposed to live. So God gives to Israel Leviticus, this book of the law, instructing them. This is what it looks like to live in my community, to be a part of my people. And in Leviticus 19, again and again and again, God gives an instruction. He gives a command. And He concludes it by saying, "I am Yahweh the Lord." So instruction: "I am Yahweh the Lord." Instruction: I am Yahweh the Lord. Read with me. You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great. Sounds like James, right? But in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall reason frankly with your neighbor. Lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh the Lord.

15 · Interprets the theological significance of the repeated divine name formula: it functions as a covenant reminder that God's people are not autonomous but belong to Him, and His instructions define the ethos of His community

You know why God keeps repeating his name? Because he wants them to remember. He wants us to remember he has covenanted with them. He has joined himself to them. He wants Israel and us this morning to remember you are not autonomous. You are not self-ruling. You are not self-sufficient and independent. He wants his people to remember that he is the one who created the community, that he is the one who made Israel and us a people for His own possession. I am Yahweh the Lord. I have entered into covenant relationship with you, and these instructions I'm giving are the ethos of my community.

16 · Establishes the theological principle that God's law is not arbitrary but reflects His character, meaning disobedience to specific commands (like the prohibition of slander) misrepresents God himself

When God gives those instructions in the Old Testament, we see these things in the New Testament, these commands. These aren't just arbitrary things. God doesn't have like a big deal He's spinning around that just kind of rustles up. There's like millions of commands in there and just stops it and reaches in a hand and, "Oh, thou shalt not murder. That's a good one. We'll put that one in there." Spins it again. "Thou shalt not commit adultery." You know, that's not how He's doing it. When He lands on the sin of slander, when He lands on the sin of critical judgments, He does it because those things that He disavows do not reflect Him. The law and its extension, its instruction, reflects God's character. And so as God instructs us, as James reminds us, as Jesus echoes, we're to live as God's covenant people in a way that rightly reflects Him.

17 · Synthesizes the theological offense of malicious judgment: it is both a failure to reflect God (horizontal dimension) and an attempt to usurp God's place as judge (vertical dimension)

So, when slander and critical attitudes and dissension and gossip and grumbling and complaining— when those things are practiced, it's not just rejecting the law, it's rejecting the heart of the Lawgiver. Instead of people loving their neighbors as themselves and replicating the God who loves the undesirable, we look selfish, mean-spirited, and divided. James tells us we look ungodly. But it's not just a a failure of relationship. It's a failure of reverence. It's not just that we're failing to act in a way that mirrors God's character. James's point is you're not acting like you should, you're not reflecting the God who has saved you. You're also trying to be God. You're also acting as if you are God.

18 · Vividly portrays the arrogance of critical judgment as usurping God's unique authority: treating God as a bailiff who delivers verdicts we render, when only God can pronounce final judgment on the soul

When you critically judge others, you're pretending that you can discern the secrets of another man's heart. You're presuming that you can read a man's inner desires. You know his thoughts. What James says you do, what James says we do, what James says I was doing on the phone with my friend, clothed in justification in my mind, What he says I was doing, in essence, was wrestling the gavel from God's hand, ripping the robe from His shoulders, kicking God off of His judgment seat, and then treating Him like He's my bailiff. I'll render the judgment, and then I'll send you and your word to go deliver judgment for me. Verse 12: There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, He who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? There's only one who pronounces final judgment on the soul of a Christian, and that's God Himself. We become critical in our judgments and rightful in our words, we don't live in obedience to God. In fact, we put ourselves in God's place. We assault his sovereignty.

19 · Defends against the misapplication of 'judge not' by distinguishing malicious judgment from righteous judgment, using Leviticus 19, 1 Corinthians 5, and Matthew 7:1-5 to show that the Bible calls believers to judge rightly, mercifully, and humbly—not to cease judging altogether

But the last part of verse 12 is a dangerous weapon if we wield that out of context, right? You can just hear people in our culture and in in churches today. See? Judge not lest you be judged. There it is right there. No judgment. Totally judgment-free zone. That's not the point. That's not the point James is making. And it doesn't take exegetical cartwheels to get there. He's not writing this text as a blanket condemnation on judgment. The context carries weight. James is concerned about a certain type of judgment, about malicious, evil-intentioned, ungracious judgments. And his whole point is, right, we shouldn't presume to ignore God's law, right? You shouldn't judge God's law. You shouldn't presume to make your own form of morality. Listen again to Leviticus 19 that he's alluding to. You shall do no injustice in court. Implication being You should be meting out appropriate justice. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. You shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor. The concern is injustice. The concern is evil intent. James is not the poster boy for tolerance. That's not what he's peddling. The body is called to judge right from wrong. Paul tells the Corinthian church to do just that, right? Expel the immoral brother from your midst. You're called to judge. Read the whole context of Jesus' commandments in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7:1, the more commonplace people go to to make this claim. "Judge not that you be not judged." And then they stop. But listen to the rest. "For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will it be measured to you. Why do you seek the speck that is in your brother's eye but not notice the log that is in your own? How can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye when there's a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out to justly judge your brother's eye.

20 · Synthesizes the canonical witness on judgment: real Christians are called to judge, but in a manner characterized by biblical fidelity, mercy, and humility

Leviticus 19 and Matthew 7 and James 4 are all in agreement. The point isn't that real Christians never judge. The point is that real Christians are called to judge rightly, to judge biblically, to judge mercifully, to judge humbly.

21 · Applies the doctrine of righteous judgment to church practice: believers are called to promote justice and truth through accountability characterized by love, restoration, purity, and the desire to help others see Christ more clearly—judging others as we hope God will judge us

So we're called to fight partiality in our judgments, specifically to promote righteousness. Righteousness, the sense to promote justice and truth and beauty. We're called to do that and promote that in our community. It means we're called to bring accountability, but accountability that's buttressed by love, accountability that's always seeking restoration, accountability that longs for growth and purity, that above everything else doesn't want your neighbor to see sin, but wants your neighbor to put off sin to see Christ more clearly. That's the nature of what it's talking about here. We're called to judge others. Here's the point: in the way we hope God will judge us.

22 · Provides concrete contrasts between righteous and unrighteous judgment: gracious vs

So don't judge unjustly. Don't judge critically. Judge graciously. Don't judge harshly. I'm called to judge. That's wrong. That's sin. Bam! Whack-a-mole! I'm gonna knock you down. Judge mercifully. Don't judge vindictively. Judge redemptively.

23 · Grounds the ethic of merciful judgment in the gospel: believers are to remember how God has judged them in Christ—with mercy, grace, and redemptive love—and judge their neighbors accordingly

And I think the point behind this, the point behind Matthew 7, the point that Leviticus 19 is pointing forward towards, is to remember how God has judged us. In Christ. That shapes how we treat our neighbor. Love your neighbor as yourself. How do we know what love is? We consider the nature of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. And in the midst of that love, in the nature of that love, in the nature of that sacrifice, we see that God puts aside condemnation, hides us under the sacrifice of our Messiah. That He can extend mercy, that He can extend grace, that He can purge sin, that He can make us pure. That's what we're called to.

24 · Concludes the first movement of the sermon by reiterating the governing principle: judge in humble recognition that only God sees perfectly, judges finally, rules authoritatively, and reigns sovereignly

Above all else, judge in light of the truth that God sees perfectly, that only God judges finally, that only God rules authoritatively. That only God is sovereign. That's the first aspect of what James is pointing to, that we assault God's sovereignty when we maliciously judge.

25 · Structural pivot to the sermon's second movement: from malicious judgment to presumptuous living as a form of rebellion against God's sovereignty

Here's a second point: we assault God's sovereignty when we live presumptuously.

26 · Introduces the second movement by reading James 4:13-14 and identifying the root sin James addresses: self-sufficiency

James 4:13: 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. It's a well-known verse. You're probably familiar with it, right? Especially the verse that follows, the Lord willing passage. Well, the attitude that James is pointing us to just reeks of self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency.

27 · Applies the sin of presumption to everyday experience by posing convicting questions about the congregation's lack of awareness of God's sustaining grace and sovereignty in ordinary planning

And it's so natural to live that way, isn't it? We are ordinarily independent. We are prone to a presumptuous mindset that forgets or ignores God. Just think of this past week. How aware are we, hour by hour, of God's sustaining grace? How mindful are we as we're thinking of the week to come, the fact that God is sovereign over how that week will play out and not my calendar? How intentional are we to submit our will and our plans to God's will?

28 · Exegetes the nature of presumption as a self-sufficient assault on God's sovereignty, identifying four specific ways presumptuous living ignores God: assuming plans will succeed, assuming longevity of life, assuming ability to achieve goals, and assuming success depends on personal effort

What James is saying is the thing that's at stake is this is a self-sufficient assault on God's sovereignty. It's presumptuous. And this presumption assaults God's rule by assuming that whatever I plan is going to come to pass. I put it on the calendar, so Wednesday I'm having that meeting. Presumption assaults God's rule by assuming that our lives will be as long as we desire them to be. I'm sure when I'm 45 and I'm doing this or that, No possible way I wouldn't live to 45, right? Presumption assaults God's rule by assuming that whatever I desire, I can bring about. This is my goal, and these are my plans for achieving this goal, so I just have to enact it now. Presumption assaults God's rule by assuming that success is ultimately a tied to my ability and my effort. In all of those things, it's a way of living that almost completely ignores the author of history.

29 · Introduces a cultural-historical illustration by naming William Ernest Henley, setting up a case study in presumption

You've probably never heard of William Ernest Henley. It's kind of an interesting name to begin with. Not many Ernests around.

30 · Narrates the story of William Ernest Henley and recites his poem 'Invictus' to illustrate the worldview of self-sufficiency and presumption that James condemns—the belief that the human spirit is unconquerable and that man is master of his own fate

William Ernest Henley, while you might not recognize his name, wrote a poem that you've probably heard before and maybe even seen a movie that's named after this poem. Henley got ill when he was a young boy. Actually, at the age of 12, he got infected with tuberculosis. And I didn't know tuberculosis could do this, but evidently it was the tuberculosis that infected his bones. And he had this infection for years, 13 years in fact, and it got to a point, it was so acute, At the age of 25, he went to the doctor and the infection had spread into his legs. And one leg was worse than the other and it was in his feet. And the doctors looked at it and realized in order to save his life, they were going to have to amputate. And so they told him, "We're going to amputate your worst infected leg all the way up to the hip. We're going to take a significant portion of the other leg as well." And Henley ignored the doctor's advice and actually refused to allow them to amputate the other leg. He said, "I'm going to beat it in the other leg, and in the leg that's worst infected, you can only take it to the knee." And, you know, they argued back and forth, doctors telling him this isn't wise, but he was resolute in his conviction. He was going to fight it. He was going to beat it. He's sitting in his hospital bed prior to the surgery, and he picks up his pen, and he writes a poem. And the poem is heralded as a triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity. This poem actually inspired Nelson Mandela during his incarceration in apartheid South Africa. The poem is hailed as one of the great motivational pieces ever penned. It's called "Invictus." the Latin for undefeated. You maybe saw the movie about the rugby team, right? That's what he said. Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud, Under the bludgeoning of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but horror of the shade. Death is waiting. And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid. I don't fear death. Can't take my other leg. It matters not how strait the gate, even if I limp, How charged with punishments the scroll! I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

31 · Reframes Henley's culturally celebrated poem as a tragic embodiment of the godless presumption James condemns, identifying specific ways the poem assaults God's sovereignty: denying providence, celebrating self-sufficiency, and declaring autonomy

William Ernest Henley is held as a man of courage, a man of resolution. And inspiration. In reality, he's a tragic example of the mindset of presumption. It's tragic in the way it's celebrated as this example of the indomitable nature of the human heart. Henley's poem drips with the godless presumption. James warns us about. He laments circumstance, right? These things are just happening to him randomly. The bludgeoning of chance, he says. At the same time, he celebrates his own fearlessness, his own strength in the face of death. He boasts that whatever gods might be out there have given me an unconquerable soul. The final stanza, his pride reaches a crescendo. He declares himself autonomous, sovereign over his own destiny. No other master but me. While the world may celebrate the poem, God's word has another conclusion. Verse 16: As it is, you vote boast in your arrogance. And all such boasting is evil.

32 · Applies the Henley illustration to the congregation's everyday self-sufficiency, contrasting worldly wisdom that sees Henley as inspirational with divine wisdom that sees him as delusional, and cites James 4:14 to provide God's verdict on human life

And while most of us don't have the gift of poetry that Henley had, or the acclaim that his poem brought him, if we're honest, we know that there are many times in our day when trouble besets us —that that's the needier. Dig a little deeper. Pull myself up by the bootstraps. Try a little harder. Reset the goals. James provides the antidote of divine perspective. Not because James is a killjoy, but because wisdom it doesn't see Henley as inspirational. It discerns him as delusional. Verse 14: Ye do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? Henley? Wassing? You are a mist, a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes.

33 · Synthesizes the three ways presumption assaults God's sovereignty (ignoring His omniscience, ignoring human frailty, overlooking human dependency) and cites Peter Lewis to diagnose the root problem: divorcing Christ's heavenly rule from earthly life

The sin of presumption assaults God's sovereignty. It ignores his unique omniscience. I plan as if I know and I write the future instead of God. Presumption assaults God's rule by ignoring my frailty, the fragile nature of my life. I pretend It's not just that I'm the captain of my soul. I act as though my soul matters more than it does, to which James holds up the stark relief of eternity. Weigh your soul against that and you see it for the vapor it is. Presumption assaults God's reign by overlooking our utter dependency. We don't just need God for the success of our plans. We need God for the success of our next breath. Peter Lewis put it this way: It is too easy to divorce the rule of Christ in heaven from the life of his church on earth, to so abstract the one from the other that the effective outworking of Christ's sovereignty is left to mysterious forces quite unconnected with our everyday Christian life. In this way, we can make the reign of Christ something all too remote, invisible, inaudible, and eventually undetectable.

34 · Transitions to personal testimony by acknowledging the preacher's former blindness to his own presumptuous living

I didn't think I lived that way. Some of you maybe heard the story before.

35 · Personal story of presumptuous planning at Pastor's College—assuming a return to Minnesota that never materialized—culminating in the realization that nothing had changed in God's plan; the only change was the preacher's knowledge of it

When we went to the Pastor's College, 2008 and 2009, we went there with the thoughts we were going to go for a year. I finished up seminary, done the whole struggling with God's sovereignty and the plan of my life, and here I am in seminary but also waiting on the potential of going to the Pastor's College to be a pastor in Sovereign Grace. I felt like God had humbled me and brought me to this point where I recognized I was professing His sovereignty, but I wasn't trusting in it. And I finally got to the point of humility and brokenness and said, God, I rest in Your will. In His kindness, the next year we get through the pastor's college exactly how I would have written it. So I think we've come to grips with it, right? Here we are at pastor's college. It's 2008 turning into 2009. You know what happens. The economy implodes, the recession takes on new levels, and I have a phone call with Rick Gamache back in Minnesota that I think is going to discuss what my salary is going to be when I come back to Minnesota, what my job responsibilities will be, and about a minute into the phone call I could just sense the tension 1,000 miles away on Rick's end. He informed us that The church did not have the money to bring us back. And over the course of an hour-and-a-half-long phone call and a discussion with Hannah where we went out to coffee— maybe not the most appropriate way to break that news to your wife in a public setting. I don't think it was strategic on my part to keep her from crying too much. I had to inform her we wouldn't be going back home. At least it didn't look like it. We were going to be exploring church plants in Dayton, Ohio, Orange County, California. Orange County, California wasn't appealing to us. We wanted to go back home. We wanted to be with our family and our friends. And it hit us in the gut. And we were in a tailspin for a while, and I remember about 3 weeks into it, again coming to grips with God's sovereignty and His plan, and it just hit me, a realization. Nothing, nothing had changed in our circumstances. Prior to that phone call with Rick, nothing changed in the world. All that happened was I found out God's plan had been carrying on exactly how he had intended from the foundation of the earth. The only change was it had been revealed to me what it was going to look like.

36 · Draws the theological conclusion from the personal narrative: God had ordained the circumstance for good, and the preacher had lived presumptuously by making plans without submitting them to God's will

And there was a combination of things that happened. First of all, there was just this immense grace in the moment of realizing he's known. More than known, he's ordained. He's ordained this for our good. And also the conviction: I had lived presumptuously for an entire year almost, making plans, and not even whispering, "Lord willing," making plans and assuming they would come to fruition.

37 · Extends the personal narrative with a second illustration of God's kindness: a prophetic word given weeks before the phone call that accurately predicted the outcome, serving as God's gracious provision even in the midst of the preacher's sin of presumption

Here's a sweet kindness of God. This is off the notes, but we're a little bit ahead of time, so I'm going to do it. A month and a half before that, a team came in from Covenant Fellowship Church, one of the Sovereign Grace churches in the Philadelphia area. And the team was a group of people in this church who just were known for having a prophetic gifting. So they had a gifting for just encouraging the body of Christ with words they felt like they were guided by the Spirit with. Weren't infallible, these weren't subjective, it's not the nature of God's word, but still helpful, and even in its subjectivity, a great guide. Well, in the midst of that, there's some amazing things said to people in our class that were just dumbfounding. When they came to us, Mark Prater, who's a friend of mine now, and one of the ladies on the team, they're talking with us and praying with us, and one of the ladies said, "You know, I just see books." I was like, "Oh, this is a great prophetic word!" I see books in your future. So I was loving it and Hannah was rolling her eyes. And then one of them said, you know, I have a sense that you're not going to be going home in the way you expected. And specifically that you're going to go home, but it's not going to be for as long as you thought. But that God would encourage you, the place that you're going to will become home. And the place you're going to will have the growth of new friendship over time. I got done and I looked at her like, well, remember it's subjective. I don't know what they were talking about. I was very willing to accept the books portion, but the other stuff I was like, well, that was kind of quacky. Maybe they had the wrong person. And I had completely forgotten about it. A month and a half later, That exact thing comes to happen. And 2 or 3 weeks afterwards, as I was processing and coming to grips with God's kindness and his grace, he called to mind that word. And it was just like a sweet balm to our souls. We were mourning the fact that we weren't going to live in the place of our families for the next decades. And here God came along and said, even though you were living in the sin sin of presumption. I predicted. I gave you the prophetic encouragement to know this was my plan, and it was good.

38 · Applies the personal testimony by contrasting worldly self-sufficiency (Henley) with biblical wisdom (James 1:2-4), calling the congregation to count trials as joy because God is the author of history who ordains them for sanctification

So by God's grace, we were able not only to resist despair as our plans dissolved before our eyes, but to resist the temptation of self-sufficiency. Instead of turning to the poetry of Henley We turn to the wisdom of James. James 1:2: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. Loss of the job you thought you had tied up. The death of a loved one that you didn't think was gonna happen for decades. The breaking of relationship. Whatever it might be. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face these trials, because you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. And these trials will accomplish these things because your God is the author of history. Your God has written the end from the beginning. Your God has declared from ancient times things not yet done. He knows no surprises. He calls you to live in the joy and the humility of recognizing, "If the Lord wills."

39 · Corrects a potential misapplication by clarifying that James is not promoting a verbal formula ('Lord willing' as a slogan) but calling for a posture of life

Here's what he's doing. James is not promoting a slogan. I don't want you to go out of here thinking, well, I've got to change how I talk. When I go talk to somebody, every time I talk about something, I've got to tag on there, "Lord willing." Lord willing. I'm so convicted, I'm going to get a tattoo. I'm going to tattoo it on my pec. So every time I'm in the bathroom in the morning brushing my teeth, I'll see on my pec, "Lord willing." Okay. That's not what James is saying.

40 · Defines the proper application of James 4:13-15: living with a posture of humility that recognizes God's sovereignty and rejoices in His rule rather than treating 'Lord willing' as a mere verbal formula

He's calling you to a way of life. He's calling you to an attitude and a disposition that says, "I want to live in recognition that I am not autonomous, that I am not self-sufficient, that I am not the author of my story." And that's good news, because God is. He's promoting a posture of humility that marks our lives. He's encouraging a lifestyle that recognizes and rejoices in God's rule.

41 · Clarifies the relationship between human responsibility and divine sovereignty: believers are still called to plan and set goals, but to do so in submission to God's sovereignty, recognizing that failure to act on known responsibilities is the sin of omission

Now here's the thing, it's one that still plans. This is important. James is not saying you don't have any responsibility. God's going to do what he's going to do. He's saying you should set goals, you should work towards those goals. That's actually what the verse says, right? It's not that you don't set goals, it's not that you don't plan. It's you do those things in recognition. These are my plans, and it's completely submitted to God's sovereignty. But I'm still going to set the goals. I'm still going to work towards these plans. I'm going to pray over them and trust that they're going towards God's ends. In fact, if we fail to act, if we fail in our duty, if we fail to do the good we know we ought to do, James says at the end of the passage, that's sin. That's the sin of omission. You're sloth, Proverbs says.

42 · Concludes the sermon by synthesizing the practical implications of living under God's sovereignty: humbled planning without pride, gratitude for success as God's gift, and assurance in failure that God's redemptive purposes prevail

What he's challenging us to do is to view our plans with proper perspective. God's sovereignty humbles our plans. It doesn't eliminate them. Providence reminds us we are utterly dependent yet fully responsible. So there's no place for pride in our strength, boasting in our achievements, because Providence brings balance to our goals, brings objectivity to our successes. You know who gets the praise when things go according to plan? The One who actually wrote the plan: God. Things are seen as gifts from God, rather than the outworking of my intelligence or wisdom or fortitude. And it sustains us in failure. Because even a thwarted goal means we can find assurance of the redemptive aim of God.