The Sin of Presumption

(James 4:13-17)

by

Jim Bordwine, ThD

Introduction

This morning I want to address a sin issue that is pervasive among all people, even Christians. If you were to make yourself aware of this sin and then take note of your conversation in a given day, you would discover that you commit this sin repeatedly and you do it without even thinking about it. This transgression is part of the way we think—with or without the presence of God’s Spirit. This sin is a manifestation of the sin in the Garden, that original act of disobedience against God and His word. This sin, when committed, declares the autonomy of the creature and his belief that he controls his life and, therefore, may say whatever he wishes, make whatever plans please him, and live with what he believes is a certain apprehension of the future.

We are warned about this sin frequently in Scripture because it is, as I suggested, so common and it often goes undetected. Listen to this verse from Proverbs and see if you can guess what I have in mind:

The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. (16:9)

This verse acknowledges something we all understand—namely, that as we go through life, we make a lot of plans. We consider our circumstances, our abilities, our resources, and our goals; based upon all that information, we decide what we are going to do, what we are going to pursue, and when we will take certain steps to achieve what we have determined is our aim. We frequently behave as if life is predictable and as if careful planning produces guaranteed results.

At this time last year, would anyone have predicted the events we have experienced as a congregation? I don’t think so. And I would imagine there were at least a few unexpected developments in your own life, perhaps some really challenging developments, for which you made no preparation and which were not part of the future you envisioned for yourself and your family. Pay attention, therefore, to what the writer adds to that first observation. He says that “the mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” This says that all of our planning, no matter how carefully done, is subject to another source of influence, namely, God’s will. While we may be diligent to make what we consider good and wise plans, the truth is, our plans are actually bound by His desires and purposes.

In the verse just read, it is clear that the man answers to the LORD and not the other way around. It is clear that the man’s desire must give way to the desire of God. And note that the writer doesn’t say that only the wicked plans of a man are subject to the LORD’s will; he implies that whatever is conceived in a man’s mind, which would include his goals based on his assessment of his resources and his abilities, may be completely overturned or interrupted. If the plan a man makes runs contrary to the will of God, then it is the man’s plan that suffers, not the will of the LORD.

Therefore, the man who makes pronouncements about what he is going to do in the future may find that his plans come to pass only partially and maybe not at all. The wise man understands the nature of his existence and realizes he lives under the authority of God. It is when we act as if we don’t believe that or act as if God’s will is bound by our desires that we commit the sin I’ve been referring to; and that sin is the sin of presumption.

The text for this morning’s sermon is found in James 4. In this passage, James gives some well-founded advice about how we should view the future, how we should rank our own will, and what change of perspective we must have if we are, in fact, guilty of this particular transgression.

The Text

James 4: 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

The Exposition

I want to establish the context of these verses before we begin our examination. James addresses a number of disturbing characteristics in this letter. Most recently, he has mentioned the presence of pride and arrogance among some. These self-exalting tendencies were producing an alarming set of transgressions. For example, some of the people were showing little or no evidence of repentance for sin; they were not mourning for their offenses. James clearly warns them that God is opposed to the proud, yet their behavior included disdain for His law. There was a general lack of submission among the people, James implies. They were engaging in destructive talk against one another and doing the very things that were preventing true fellowship and spiritual growth. And, on top of all this, James indicates that they were not recognizing the unique position of God as their Law-Giver.

The verse just before our passage sums up much of what is concerning James: “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?” (4:12) Here is the problem: The people to whom James is speaking were putting themselves in the place of God, which ties in perfectly with the passage we are about to study.

James could point to a simple and common practice that demonstrated how the ongoing rebellion of these people revealed their sense of independence. He picks a routine act observed among the people that exposes how they were thinking of their ability to control their destinies. And that practice is found in v. 13: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’”

At first pass, the statement, which James quotes from the conversations of the people, might seem innocent. To the ears of a Christian, however, this comment and similar comments should cause an immediate reaction. The thinking behind such a comment is not taking into account God’s presence, God’s will, or the responsibility we all have to acknowledge and serve Him. This phrase was spoken as if the individual had only to decide what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go and what he wanted to accomplish and, behold, it will be done. Behind such a statement is a careless thinker and an uninformed individual. From a Biblical perspective, this declaration, made with so much confidence and without any qualifiers, suggests that a man need only conceive of a plan and then he can follow it. Other purposes, only influences, other possibilities are not even mentioned or taken into account.

James hears some of the people boasting about taking a trip and engaging in business and making a profit. Some were assuming that the key to success was a good plan. “If I go to such and such a city,” they thought, “and spend a year there engaging in business, I’m bound to come away with a profit.” The pattern, then, is this: make a plan, carry out your plan, enjoy the benefits. But consider how much could go wrong with this plan. You might get sick before or during the trip; you might be robbed or cheated by a business partner; or you might encounter an unexpected expense. All those things could happen and the plan would come to a halt. But that’s not the biggest or most important factor being overlooked.

The most important factor being overlooked in the mind of the man who talks like this is the will of God. What if your plan is not God’s plan? What if God has ordained something else for you? What if your approach to business is displeasing to God? What if His purposes are better served having you stay where you are? You see, I trust, that the really significant error in the people’s thinking had to do with the failure to take into account the will of God. But this is no surprise, based upon what James said earlier. The people, he wrote, had no regard for the law of God and were full of pride and engaging in various sins. There was, therefore, a spiritual crisis unfolding among these professing Christians. They were guilty of one of the most fundamental of all sins, which is failure to acknowledge God.

Take note of the observation James makes next: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.” (v. 14) James contrasts the confident declarations of some with one fact they were ignoring. The plan they spoke of with such assurance had one major flaw—they didn’t know what would unfold the next day! How can you speak with such certainty about making a trip to a city, spending a year there engaging in business, and then returning with a profit when you don’t know what the next day might bring? This is the sin of presumption. It is not only foolish to speak this way, it is sinful and it is sinful because there is One who sets the course of every day, indeed, every hour of our lives. When a man speaks as if he is in control of circumstances and can, therefore, make whatever plan he wishes and be assured of success, he is claiming ability and authority that belong only to God.

Don’t miss the fact that James emphasizes a single day. That is, he only tells them they don’t know what life will be like tomorrow. He doesn’t bother pointing out the even more obvious truth that they don’t know what life will be like in six months or a year. The people have spoken as if obstacles must give way to their plan and as if they are unstoppable once they make that plan. But James reminds them that they can’t even be sure of what is going to occur in the next 24 hours, much less the coming 12 months.

Many years ago, my father had an unforgettable experience as he was driving home from a vacation. He was traveling on the West Virginia Turnpike when he came over a hill and saw construction vehicles and flaggers a few hundred yards ahead at the bottom of this incline. The crew was working on a bridge and all traffic was stopped. Eventually, the drivers were told to plan on a long delay so some of them got out of their cars and started chatting on the side of the road.

In a few moments, a large truck came over the hill and was bearing down on the bridge that was under construction. Instead of slowing down, this rig seemed to be picking up speed. The flaggers were waving franticly but the truck kept coming. My father was several cars back from the entrance to the bridge and as the speeding truck passed, he said he saw the face of the driver and it was a picture of horror. The driver realized he was in serious trouble and apparently could not stop the truck.

As the truck started across the bridge, equipment was being knocked in all directions and men were scrambling to get out of the way. Everyone made it except for one. About half way across the bridge, the truck struck one man and knocked him over the guard rail and down into the ravine below. At that moment, a young man standing near my father began screaming: “That’s my dad! That’s my dad!” He had just witnessed his father being plowed into by the run-away truck. There was no question regarding the status of his dad—he was certainly dead.

The son was overcome with grief and he fell to the ground. My dad ran over to him and held him as the boy wept. My father told me it was one of the most helpless feelings he had ever known. Through his tears, the boy told my father: “We were just talking about what we would going to do when we got off work. We only had a couple more hours to work and we would have been heading home.”

You know that when the father and son got up that morning, they assumed it would be just another day. They probably ate breakfast and drove to the bridge where they were working. Throughout the day, everything proceeded as expected. But then, in a matter of a few seconds, their whole world changed. The father was killed and the son returned home without him that evening. The son’s assumption was that the day would end like every other day; his wasn’t a sinful presumption, but a presumption nonetheless.

The wonderful news that came out of this horrible tragedy is that my father shared the gospel with the young man and he professed faith there at the scene. My father said he didn’t know what else to say to comfort the son, so he told him about Christ and how Christ had been his Helper through very trying days.

This incident reminds us that the existence of man is such that he doesn’t know what the next few hours might bring; when he boasts about the future, whether it be the coming day or the coming year, he speaks without a foundation. When he assumes his life will follow a certain pattern, he makes that assumption without supporting evidence. His life will flow as God has ordained, not as the man plans. Therefore, to repeat, when a man speaks about what he will do and accomplish in the future—again, be it the next day or the next year—he commits sin if he fails to subject his plans and his will and his expectations to the overriding authority of God.

James puts into perspective the view these people had of themselves and reality: “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (v. 14) This comment took the people from one extreme to the other; it took them from the proud and self-assured end of the spectrum to the opposite end known as truth. How significant are you in this universe and how much does your planning matter? James inquires. Regardless of what you think of yourself and regardless of how sure you are of your plans, the truth is that you are little more than a puff of smoke that appears and almost instantly disappears. If it is true, if it is true that we are “just a vapor” when it comes to the authority we possess to determine the future, how inappropriate is it for us to speak so confidently about tomorrow or next month or next year? It is entirely inappropriate and even sinful. No man can claim that which belongs to God alone and the course of our lives is in His hands, not ours.

Now consider the simple solution James offers: “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’” (v. 15) Such a disturbing practice, but such a simple remedy. I want to emphasize that James doesn’t say we should not make plans, set goals, or assess our futures. What he says is that we should not do those things without regard for God’s place in our lives. There is such a thing as wise planning and wise planning involves taking into account the world view presented in the Bible; and that includes God’s presence, God’s authority, and God’s purposes. Whatever we seek is subject to His will. With that in mind, we can make all the plans we want. As long as we understand that God is sovereign and has decreed the path for us all and as long as we understand that His decree is good and righteous and for His glory, we need not refrain from trying to order our lives for the coming months and years.

In fact, in Proverbs the wise man is distinguished from the fool by his willingness to seek direction from God. And the reason for the reliability of God’s instruction is found in the fact that His counsel is perfect and cannot be overturned by any one or any force. The man who declares, “Tomorrow I will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and make a lot of profit” is a fool because he has not sought the counsel of God who determines whatsoever comes to pass.

Moreover, James tells us to understand that God may, indeed, have something planned for us other than what we ourselves conceive. “If the Lord wills” is a way of giving first place to God’s purposes and it is a way of subjecting our wisdom and desires to His wisdom and desires. It’s a simple thought, but the man who prefaces his plans, either in his mind or actually in his words, with this acknowledgement is the man who is constantly reminding himself of this all-important truth: we live in a world governed by God and His will always stands and His ways are always righteous. That kind of ongoing reminder will produce good fruit in us as we walk with the Lord. It will contribute to our humility. Anytime we admit that whatever we desire, whatever we aim for is, in truth, in God’s hands, then how boastful can we be? How sure of ourselves apart from God can we be if we are routinely reminded that God has the last word, so to speak, regarding the direction of our lives?

The proper way for a man of God to live, therefore, is to discipline his mind so that his plans, no matter how small or how grand, no matter how near or far their design, are not above the will of God. All things serve Him, including our pursuits and achievements. One perspective in this passage is the perspective of autonomy and disregard for God; the other is the perspective of humble submission to God and His will for our lives. One way dishonors Him and the other honors Him; one approach invites His displeasure and the other His blessing.

In case anyone might downplay the importance of what James says, his next statement should serve as a correction: “But as it is, you boast in your ignorance; all such boasting is evil.” (v. 16) Notice another element is introduced here—the element of boasting. Here again the sin of presumption is obvious. Not only were some of the people talking as if whatever they planned was achievable, but they also made their pronouncements with a measure of pride. They boasted James says, about what they planned, about where they could go, and about all the success they would meet.

It is wrong to plan without reference to God; and it is a great evil to boast of your independence when stating your plan and it is a great evil to declare the end from the beginning because you don’t know the next step, yet alone the end of your life. Only God knows the end from the beginning and that is because He has ordained it. Any man who tries to take that authority to himself, in even the slightest way, commits a serious offense.

The final warning from James is also just as simple as the exhortation: “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (v. 17) When God reveals to us what is right, what is according to His will, and we don’t do it or do the opposite, what can we call that except “sin”? James is telling the boastful people that they are guilty of sin, not just an oversight or a small infraction.

The Application

In terms of applying this passage to our lives, we might easily concentrate on the sin of presumption; we might spend time examining our behavior and ask ourselves if we speak foolishly at times as we declare our desires. Were we to follow that course, I’m sure that everyone here would have to admit guilt in this area of our lives. We do routinely announce our plans—sometimes those plans cover a day and sometimes they cover a lifetime, but we do regularly speak about what we intend to do. And if we are not taking into account the fact that God’s sovereignty determines the extent to which our plans are realized, then we are committing an offense against Him. We need not preface everything we say with that phrase, “If the Lord wills,” but we had better understand that His will governs ours and His will determines the degree to which we achieve what we desire.

There is great benefit in self-inspection, especially in a matter where we sin so easily and almost without realizing it. But I want to mention another aspect of application this morning, one that is more uplifting. I want to encourage you to be glad that God does, indeed, determine the course of our lives and He does not always allow us to realize our plans. Sometimes His will is not compatible with ours and His will, therefore, overrules. That, however, is a good thing! God is perfect and righteous and whatever He ordains for us is for our good and His glory. Therefore, we want God to intervene and we want Him to overrule and we want Him to deny our wills at times. We want this because we do not have His infinite wisdom and we do not have His all-encompassing knowledge.

If we will remember that when God prevents our will from being done or changes what we assumed would be the course ahead, He does so because He loves us. It’s that simple. God delivers us often from our own foolishness and lack of perception. He sees to it that our lives unfold according to His plan rather than according to our plan. Sometimes the changes He sets before us a painful and sometimes they completely confuse us and leave us wondering what God is doing. But the one truth we can always cling to is the fact that whatever God does, however He directs our lives, it will be in love.

That is, after all, how our relationship with God began—it began in love. It is the apostle Paul who declares to us that God, in love, apointed us to eternal life in Christ Jesus before the earth existed. (Eph. 1:4, 5) And it was Jesus Himself who announced that the love of God was behind the sending of the Son of God into the world to save us. (cf. John 3:16) The Scriptures that speak of the unfailing love of God for His people could be multiplied many times over. God does not let you go your own way because He loves you. He does not let your will be done always because He loves you. And for this, we should be grateful. This is what the words of James bring to mind. Not only should we refrain from speaking rashly about our futures, but we should also find great comfort in the fact that God treats us as He does.

That little phrase, “If the Lord will,” therefore, is packed with significance. It testifies to our acknowledgement that God’s will is supreme and our will must bend to His. And that phrase also testifies to God’s love for us. God’s wills that which is best for us. And even when His will requires us to pass through times of testing, we know it is still right and still for our good. We are able to relax and rest in the hands of God, as it were, knowing that He watches over us and directs every day of our life on this earth. There is nothing wrong with that!

Closing prayer . . .

Hymn for communion . . .

Conclusion

I noted that the love of God is at the heart of our relationship with Him. We are reminded of that truth every week when we observe this sacrament. What are we remembering as we come to the Table? What act are we thinking of as the bread and wine are distributed? We are commemorating the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us. We are thinking of His selfless act of taking our place and paying for our transgressions. And we are celebrating the fact that He lives and dwells with us now by His Spirit and reigns over us as He applies His atonement to the fallen world. Again, we have something of great encouragement.

1 Cor. 11: 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.