Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19990502.htm

JAMES: OVERCOMING DEAD RELIGIOSITY IN OUR BACKGROUNDS
Part II: Overcoming A False Spirituality's HEARTLESS Errors In Relating To Other Believers
F. Overcoming A LIVELIHOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY View In The Marketplace To Edify Others
(James 4:13-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. One of the challenges that Christians in the marketplace face is the seemingly dog-eat-dog competition for the "Almighty Dollar" that is abundant in business dealings, and how that vi ewpoint counters a proper consideration for the needs of afflicted people around us. The question can arise, "How do I as a believer live my life graciously and yet compete effectively for a living in a harshly selfish secular marketplace?!"
    2. James 4:13-17 set in its context reveals the answer to that question as follows:
  2. Overcoming A LIVELIHOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY View In The Marketplace To Edify Others
    1. The passage of James 4:13-17 is set within the context of James' admonitions to check heartless dealings between believers as we can reveal as follows:
      1. James 5:1 which follows James 4:17 is not a separate chapter break in the original Greek Testament.
      2. As such, James 5:1 "continued" James' "attack on self-centered merchants who seem to succeed in their business" via "heartless conduct" to the poor victims of their dealings, Bib. Know. Com., N.T., p. 832.
      3. Also, as we learned in the last lesson in James, James 4:1-12 that precedes James 4:13-17 exposed the cause and cure for contentions and abuses between people.
    2. Thus, as James 4:13-17 aimed to counter heartless dealings between believers, it exposed how to handle a livelihood self-sufficiency viewpoint that produces heartlessness in business relations (as follows):
      1. James noted that it was faulty for a person to feel self-sufficient in the marketplace, James 4:13:
        1. The KJV's expression "Come now" ("Now listen" NIV) is an everyday exclamation used to goad and gain the attention of a one who needs correction, Bib. Know. Com., N.T., p. 831.
        2. Thus, what James noted in verse 13 of his listener is something James opposed!
      2. What James countered had to do with an errant set of boasts made by businessmen as follows:
        1. James panned the view of entrepreneurs who claimed on a given day they could make money, 13a.
        2. He criticized their claim to say they could make money in a certain location they selected, Jas. 4:13b.
        3. James denounced the idea that one could claim how long he could stay in a given venture, Jas. 4:13c.
        4. He knocked the notion that one could claim he would be able to purchase items in business, 4:13d.
        5. James opposed the idea that a businessman could claim he could surely market a product, Jas. 4:13e.
        6. He resisted the claim that one could insure that he would make a profit in a venture, James 4:13f.
      3. James then supported his comments by revealing the inability of the entrepreneur to make such boasts:
        1. First of all, no businessperson knows what events will transpire on a given day, so he has no way of guaranteeing what will happen to his business' welfare on that given day, James 4:14a.
        2. Second, the entrepreneur's own life is a transitory one, and he doesn't know if he will be physically alive on a given day, or how long he will be able to have the health to carry on his venture, 4:14b.
      4. James then provided the correct viewpoint the believer in the marketplace is to have as follows, a viewpoint that according to context will not harm, but nurture in his business relationships, 4:15-16:
        1. The godly business person makes his business plans, but submits them all to God's will, James 4:15.
        2. This way, James implied he could afford to remain humble in his business dealings, for he then realizes that his business from start to finish has to be helped by God for it to go anywhere, Jas. 4:16.
      5. Finally, James called Christian entrepreneurs to depend on God for success in the marketplace, for failure to do so by being self-sufficient and thus harmful in relationships was sin in God's eyes, Jas. 4:17.
Lesson: (1) When a believer views his business venture's success as rising solely from himself, then when the venture doesn't go as well as planned, he becomes harmful in relating to others in his effort to scramble about to try fixing his mess so as to make ends meet. That is sin. (2) God's suggestion is for the Christian entrepreneur to realize that all his endeavors must come under God's control for him even to BEGIN to make a sustainable livelihood. The believer then responsibly does his best, but can afford to remain considerate of others as he lets God deal with his business venture's success!