Be Patient

Be Patient

“Be Patient”
(James 5:7-11)
Series: Living the Faith (James)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

I invite you to take your Bibles this morning and join me in James, chapter 5 (page 814; YouVersion).

We are preaching our way verse-by-verse through the Book of James and we find ourselves this morning in chapter 5 at verse 7. And because verse 7 begins with the word “Therefore,” we understand that James is providing information that addresses what he has said previously in verses 1-6.

We recall from the opening verses of chapter 5 that James writes about an injustice that was occurring in the areas surrounding Jerusalem and beyond and that was the matter of wealthy landowners working their farmhands but not paying them properly. They were greedy businessmen who were holding on to the wages they should have been paying to those under their employ.

We might imagine how those workers felt who were being cheated. We might imagine their concern, their wonder about how long this injustice would last. Like any other trial or difficulty in life, we may wonder why it seems to go unchecked by society—or unchecked by God. We may even wonder whether God is aware of this circumstance or why He doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.

And this is where James picks up this morning in verses 7 and following. He writes about how Christians are to behave when they find themselves in these situations. He says in verse 7, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” And what James does, then, is to remind us that when we find ourselves in trials and tribulations and injustices, that we do not live for this present world, but we live for the Lord. So listen for this encouragement as well as warning as I read the passage.

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.
11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Pray.

Introduction:

In a nutshell, James teaches that when Christians find themselves in the throes of injustices in this present world, they are to remember that the Lord is coming again—and when He does, He will right all wrongs. James says, “Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” He describes the Lord’s coming as imminent. He says, “The coming of the Lord is at hand” and “the Judge is standing at the door!”

The Lord is coming again. It is the next “Big thing” God has planned. You might think of God’s plan the way we plan our future. Many of us have planners or calendars and we have somewhere a list of tasks or maybe a “To Do List.” So there are the routine things we do every day and then there is this separate list of bigger tasks or a separate “To Do List” of larger, more important tasks we aim to accomplish.

If we think of God this way and were we able to look at His calendar and see His “To Do List” we would find that there is just one main task that is listed next. We would see in God’s overarching plan and program for mankind finished tasks such as creation, fall, Christ’s first coming and redemption. And those tasks might have lines through them indicating that each has occurred. And then there is a task listed that says, “Second Coming,” and there is no line through it because it has not yet occurred.

The second coming of Christ is God’s next “Big thing” He has planned. In God’s sovereign, providential working through history, we are they who live between Christ’s first and second comings. So while God is at work in all events, including the daily things that happen at all times, we look forward to the next “Big thing” God will do in fulfillment of His overarching plan for humankind. We look forward to Christ’s return.

So it is helpful to think this way every day and it is especially helpful to think this way when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances such as injustices or when things otherwise just don’t seem to make sense. James encourages us here to “Be patient,” to wait patiently for that future time when Christ returns and God settles the score.

In my notes, then, I wrote this heading: “As You Wait Patiently,” and then three actions that flow from the passage. First:

I. Look for the Savior, that you may Endure (7-8)

The Bible teaches here that the way we may move forward when difficulties come, when we face trials and injustices, the way forward is to look up and watch for the Savior, not literally as though we were to just stand outside all the time and gaze up (like this!), but more in having a heart and an attitude that looks up to the greater plan that God is working out. Doing this results in an ability to endure. Look for the Savior, that you may endure. Verse 7 and following:

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

James teaches that just as a farmer waits patiently for the coming of rain so should the Christian wait patiently for the coming of Christ.

Any farmers here this morning? I’m not a farmer, but I know how important water is to farming. When I visited my farming cousins in Nebraska recently they showed me an aqueduct built by a relative who was among the homesteaders who settled that dry, western area. Water is absolutely necessary to the growing of crops.

In James’ day—and throughout the Old and New Testament—we see Palestinian farmers dependent upon two seasons of rain, “the early and latter rain.” The early rain was what God sent in the fall, the rain that occurred just after sowing the fields, and then the latter rain which came the following Spring, just before the harvest time.

Farmers had to wait patiently for the rain. They could not speed up this process. They had to just wait upon the Lord. They had to believe that He was going to do something and that the timing would be right.

And James says that this is exactly the way you and I are to live when we face injustices and difficulties and trials and tribulations in this world. Wait upon the Lord. He will do something and it will come at the right time.

So in this last chapter James comes full circle and sort of “bookends” the earlier teaching from the opening chapter. You’ll recall in chapter 1 that James writes about enduring and persevering through trials and hardships. He wrote back in James 1:2-4:

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

And though the words are different it’s the same idea here in chapter 5. God works through our hardships, difficulties, and injustices to produce a steadfastness, a patient endurance, an ability to stand firm and strong. God conforms us to Christlikeness through our hardships and develops in us the virtue of endurance.

Our role is to look up, to look for the Savior that we may endure. It’s much as Paul teaches in his letters, teaching us to look to the future that we may find encouragement. For example:

Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

So James says in verse 8:

8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

When James says, “Establish your hearts” there in verse 8 he’s calling for Christians to be strong, to shore up their faith, to have a backbone and strengthen their inner resolve to stand in the face of injustices. It’s a call for courage, conviction, and commitment in the face of adversity.

And again, note the key to this: it is not that we just sort of “drum up” this resolve, but rather that we find strength in the truth, the fact, of the coming of the Lord. James says, “Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” In other words, “Here’s how to prop up your heart, here’s how to stand in the face of persecution and adversity, remember that the Lord is coming and He could come today.”

Similar encouragements to look for the Savior that we may endure are found in other places in the New Testament:

Romans 13:12, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhort one another, and so much the more as we see the Day approaching.”

1 Peter 4:7, “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.”

The Lord is coming again. One scholar (John Blanchard) has discovered some 300 references to the second coming in the New Testament. That’s “one for every 13 verses from Matthew to Revelation.”

Be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. The idea is to persevere, to not quit, to keep moving.

Don’t quit on God. Don’t quit on others. Don’t quit on your spouse, on your friends, on your church. Don’t just walk out or walk away, quitting on the Lord, quitting on others. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Don’t quit. Persevere. Keep moving forward.

We are often reminded that the Christian life is more a marathon than it is a sprint. We keep moving. Don’t stop. Don’t be like that guy running yesterday at the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, the annual 10K run on the 4th of July. He’s at the line and he slows down because he thinks he’s finished and the guy from Britain races passes him and wins. He tweeted later on his Twitter account: “Always run through the line.”

So as you wait patiently…Look for the Savior, that you may endure. Secondly, as you wait patiently:

II. Look to your Speech, that you may Edify (9)

And the idea here is that when we go through hardships and difficulties we must watch our mouths. When facing persecution or battling difficulties we may find ourselves grumbling or complaining. When things don’t go our way we are tempted to lash out and take out our frustrations on others. Verse 9:

9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

James seems to understand our propensity for taking out our frustrations upon others. I mean the very reason he is teaching patience is because of our fallen reaction to grow impatient. And perhaps growing impatient with God, these Christian brothers and sisters to whom James is writing, perhaps they have begun to take out their frustrations on each other.

And James says in verse 9, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren.” The problem is not one another.

By the way, this is nearly always helpful to remember in our dealings with others. When a person lashes out at you, you are usually not the problem. Don’t take it personally. There’s something else going on in that person’s life and you just happen to be the nearest target, okay? Have the wisdom to remember that the next time someone unfairly criticizes you or grumbles against you.

So verse 9 warns against lashing out when it seems that God’s promises to address injustices are taking too long. Don’t be impatient. James says, if you grumble against one another, brethren, you will “be condemned.” You will be found at fault by the Lord.

And there again is this teaching of Christ’s imminence, or the fact that Christ’s return is soon, at any moment, verse 9 at the end James says, “Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” In other words He’s right outside, standing at the door, and He’s not going to knock first, He’s just going to fling the door open suddenly and come in. It’s just that sudden.

Now we may think, “Well, it’s been a long time since Christ’s first coming. Shouldn’t He have come by now? Didn’t the early Christians live as though they believed He would come soon?” And the answer is yes, the early Christians lives as though they believed He would come soon. It’s the same way Christians should live today—as though they believed He would come soon.

Peter reminds us in his second letter in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack (or slow) concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

In other words, if it seems like the Lord is delaying His coming, it is because of His love for mankind. He is “long-suffering…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance,” that all would be ready when He does come—whether by coming to us or in calling us to Himself.

See, either one could happen suddenly. Christ could come suddenly today. Remember, Jesus warns in Matthew 25:13: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Matthew 24:44, “Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

If He came today, would you be ready? What if He calls you away in death will you be ready? That too could happen suddenly. He could either come or call us to Himself. Will you be ready to face Him?

In our church family we have had recently four deaths in about as many days. Of those four deaths, some came expectedly and some unexpectedly. But something happened that will happen to every one of us at some point. We will stand before the Lord. The question is will we be ready?

It may seem a long time between Christ’s first and second comings but remember in that same passage from 2 Peter that Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:8 that, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” God works according to His own timetable.

If we had time we would look at a couple parables where Jesus Himself hints that there will be a long interval of time between His first and second comings, such as in Matthew 25 and the parable of the talents:

Matthew 25:19, “After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.”

So be patient. The Lord is coming again. Don’t grow impatient and start lashing out at others.

Again, James says in verse 9, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.” As Paul teaches in Philippians 2:14, “Do all things without complaining and disputing,”

So we have the first two actions: Look for the Savior and Look to your speech; or Watch for your Lord and watch your mouth. Thirdly, as you wait patiently:

III. Look at the Scriptures, that you may be Encouraged (10-11)

What James does next is to encourage Christians. He reminds Christians that in the Scriptures, in the Bible, they will find godly examples of those who persevered through times of persecution, injustice, and adversity. Verse 10:

10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

James says, “Just open your Bible and you will read throughout the Old Testament of the prophets who persevered through times of hardship. They are good examples to you of how to move through the line, to keep going when you suffer.”

It’s so true, isn’t it? We do better when we find that others have experienced what we are experiencing and discover that hey got through it okay. It really encourages us. So James says just read in the Scriptures and you will be encouraged by the examples of prophets who persevered during hardships snd difficulties.

And many of us know this. We find godly examples to encourage us, prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Daniel. These folks are examples, says James, “examples of suffering and patience.”

The writer of Hebrews sums up so much of this in Hebrews 11:35-38:

[Some] were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

In fact, Stephen, just before he is killed by stoning, do you remember this question he asks of the Jews in Acts 7? He asks them, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?!”

So James is like, “Hey if you want to be encouraged when you’re going through trials and hardships, read the Bible. I mean, look to the Scriptures and find encouragement.”
Do you read the Bible regularly? You can’t be encouraged if you don’t read it. James continues in verse 11:

11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure…

That’s true. “We count them blessed who endure.” Those who do not falter during times of difficulty and hardship. Again, it’s the same as Paul’s teaching in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Finally, James provides Job as the quintessential example of persevering during times of trials and affliction. Verse 11:

11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

James says, “You have heard of the perseverance of Job.” Most of you have heard of the perseverance of Job. We often speak of the “Patience of Job,” but the word “perseverance” is better. Job comes across as being a bit impatient in his situation and who can blame him?

He lost all of his children and he lost his home and his stuff and then he’s covered in boils. It’s so bad that Job’s wife does what James warns against in verse 9. She grumbles and says, “Job, why don’t you just curse God and die?” And that’s just the kind of encouragement you need, right?!

And James says in verse 11 that God had a sovereign plan He was working in and through Job’s circumstances. James says, “You and I can see the end—(and the word means ‘purpose’)—the end intended by the Lord.”

God had a purpose He was working out in the life of Job, an end in view. James gives us something of that purpose here in verse 11: that we may see that “the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

God blesses Job in the end with twice as much as he had before. Job didn’t know that God would do this back at the beginning of the ordeal. He could only persevere during the question marks of his life. He persevered through the afflictions and God honored his faithfulness.

Matthew Henry says, “The best way to bear afflictions is to look to the end of them.”

Remember that God is sovereign and that He is working out an “end,” a purpose, and that He always does what is right. God always does what is—what?—right. Never forget that. He is always, as James says at the end of verse 11, “very compassionate and merciful.”

William Barclay makes a pointed application when he says, “There will be moments in life when we think that God has forgotten, but if we cling to the remnants of faith, at the end we, too, shall see that God is very kind and very merciful.”

Be patient. Don’t quit on God! He doesn’t quit on us. Why should we quit on Him?

• Stand for prayer.

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