I love the tittle of this sermon by Paul David Tripp on James 4:13-17 called -- "The Delusion of Self-Sovereignty." Tripp, an author and biblical counselor (see here), preaches every Sunday night at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and is preaching through the book of James. You can watch or listen (either online or by downloading) to the sermon series here, and if you would like to listen to or watch the sermon that I mentioned -- here is the sermon link and the outline of the sermon:
-James 4:13-17
Six Dangers of Self-Sovereignty
- Self-Sovereignty puts me in the center of my universe.
God and God alone belongs at the center of our universe.
- Self-Sovereignty is subtly driven by the purposes and pleasures of material acquisition and profit.
“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”
- Self-Sovereignty denies mystery.
”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?”
- Self-Sovereignty forgets eternity.
“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
- Self-Sovereignty fails to live submissively.
“Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ ”
- Self-Sovereignty is propelled by a wrong definition of sin.
“As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Sin in its essence is a matter of what rules and controls your heart. It is pride and self-rule in the face of the sovereign grace and the sovereign rule of God.
How do we overcome this delusion?
We run to the foot of the cross. Jesus is our example and source of forgiveness and freedom from the delusion of self-sovereignty.
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