The Ethics of Perseverance

James 5:10-11 ESV

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

As we continue in our series of messages this morning from the 5th chapter of the book of James, verses 7 through 12, we arrive at verses 10 and 11.

Now, in this series, what we have been discussing is Christian ethics and the doctrine in which these ethics proceed from.

And the doctrine that we will be looking at today is the compassion, mercy, and faithfulness of God towards those who are saved, especially when we suffer for righteousness’ sake.

And when it comes to the ethics that proceed from this doctrine of God’s compassion, mercy, and faithfulness what it should produce within those of us who have been saved is recalling examples set for us in the past when God had been faithful towards others who had been set apart for His purposes as they suffered and patiently waited for the Lord’s deliverance.

In other words, we will look at some examples set for us by others who heard the promises of God and patiently waited for those promises to come to fruition, all while in the midst of severe suffering.

Throughout this 5th chapter of the book of James, the apostle speaks extensively of the suffering that the early Christians were enduring at the hands of those more powerful than they for no other reason than proclaiming that which was true.

And as James acknowledged the suffering that they were experiencing, what he exhorted them to do was practice patience, especially in light of the second coming of the Lord. They were called to endure persecution and patiently wait for the Lord to vindicate them as they faithfully wait and long for His coming.

And now, in our reading for this morning, we see where James calls these early Christians to look to examples from the past when other godly men were suffering persecution for the sake of the truth.

We see this in verse 10, where he says:

James 5:10 ESV

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

I remember when I was early in my Christian walk as I was reading through my Bible for the first time how I came across something that caught my attention and caused my eyes to be opened wide to what a legitimate Christian lifestyle consisted of and what I had to look forward to.

The words that I read came from Paul the Apostle in his second epistle to Timothy, chapter 3, verse 12, when he authoritatively proclaimed:

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

He says, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, in other words, all who legitimately live out a Christian lifestyle in which they hold to and proclaim the true Gospel, will be, not may be, or probably will be, but will indeed be persecuted.

This let me know without a shadow of a doubt that following and adhering to the legitimate Christian faith would cause me to be misunderstood, disliked, and maybe even disowned by some who had previously loved me. And guess what? All of those things have indeed happened to me at various points throughout my walk with the Lord. And because it has already happened, I am fairly confident that it will continue to happen as time goes on.

But as Paul the Apostle says, it isn’t just me that that happens to, he says that every last person who legitimately follows after Christ will experience some form of persecution for no other reason than because they pledge their allegiance to the Lord Jesus. It may even be safe to say that suffering is a requirement for someone to be a legitimate Christian.

And I hope that I am preaching to the choir here, I hope that each one of us who are in attendance here this morning can say, “Yes Pastor Nick, I know exactly what you’re talking about, for I too have experienced my fair share of suffering for the sake of Jesus, and I am quite confident that more suffering is to come.”

And what can bring us comfort as we suffer is acknowledging that we are not in a class of our own, but that others who came before us, others who also faithfully proclaimed and lived out the truth also suffered as we do for the sake of the truth.

James pointed that out to these early Christians when he told them to look to the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Now, we must look carefully at what James is saying here. He doesn’t just say, “Look to prophets” because there were many in times past who may have claimed to be prophets and speak in the name of the Lord and did not. Just as there are today many who claim to be representing God, who claim to be delivering the truth who in fact are not.

Instead, he says, “Look to the prophets who actually spoke in the name of the Lord”. That is, look to those who legitimately proclaimed the Word of God, what God actually proclaimed, Who God actually is.

So, obviously there is a difference here in that one class is a class of false prophets, while the other class is a class of legitimate prophets, and what made them different is that the one class claimed to speak in the name of the Lord and did not, while the other class did indeed speak in the name of the Lord.

But aside from one class speaking in the name of the Lord and the other class not speaking in the name of the Lord, the other difference is that those who spoke in the name of the Lord suffered for it, while those who did not speak in the name of the Lord did not suffer.

And isn’t that fitting? The class of legitimate prophets suffered because they proclaimed and lived out what God said. They suffered because what God said was not pleasing to the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life, those things which the world loves the most.

But the class of illegitimate prophets did not suffer, in fact, they were typically loved, and they typically prospered. And that was because what they proclaimed was pleasing to the flesh, they claimed to be the heralds of God, yet what they proclaimed kept their hearers at enmity with God, and even gave them a sense of religiosity while they were at enmity with God.

But though the prophets of God suffered for proclaiming that which God commanded them to proclaim, they did so patiently, waiting and looking to God to vindicate them in the end.

And they were able to do this because God enabled them to do so, He strengthened them to do so, they were able to do this, because God had undeservedly blessed them.

Let’s go ahead and take a look at verse 11 and read about this blessing that God pours out on His people, where it says:

James 5:11 ESV

11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

James speaks here of those who remain steadfast. To remain steadfast means to be firm and unwavering. Therefore, to be steadfast in this context would mean to remain faithful to God and that which He commands us to say even though we are suffering because of it.

Well, James tells these early Christians here that they consider those who came before them who had remained steadfast, firm, unwavering in their faith and commission to be blessed.

Now, I’ve said before that when one is blessed by God, that means that God has freely given to that person. The one who receives the blessing did not earn it, he did not deserve it, he did not even ask for it, it is something that God freely gave to that person solely because it was His will to do so, because it was what He wanted to do.

Therefore, James says here that we consider to be blessed those who God has freely given the ability to remain steadfast and faithful to Him amid great suffering and persecution.

And this is something that God must give to us, because without Him giving it to us, we would freely jump ship the first time that persecution came our way.

James gives an example of one that I’m sure all of us are familiar with in our reading concerning someone who God blessed to remain steadfast under the most severe trials when he bids us to recall the steadfastness of Job.

Job was one who was faithful and upright in his own generation, seeking to please the Lord in everything that he done. And one day when the angelic host, along with Satan assembled before the Lord, God pointed out to Satan the blameless and upright character of Job.

Satan responded to this by saying that Job is faithful to the Lord only because of what God has graciously blessed him with; a large family, a lot of wealth, and the best produce in all the land. He told God that if He were to take all of that away, Job would most certainly curse God to His face and forget about any kind of blameless, upright character.

So, God gave Satan permission to destroy Job’s property, to effectively bankrupt him, and to even kill his children. But amid all of this, Job remained faithful to the Lord, trusting that He knows best.

Not satisfied, Satan told the Lord that if he were allowed to hurt Job personally, that if he were allowed to cause Job great physical pain, that then Job would curse the Lord and abandon any notion of a godly lifestyle.

Once again, God allowed Satan to do this, causing Job to have excruciatingly painful sores all over his body. Yet even in this, Job looked to the Lord and would not waver.

Then his wife turned against him, and his friends turned against him, nevertheless, God blessed Job with the ability to remain steadfast and faithful to Him amid it all.

And so, amid all of the pain and turmoil and chaos that the Christian is bound to encounter in his or her life, James calls the early Christians and by extension, calls us today to look to the example of the prophets, to the example of Job, and to recognize the purpose of God in it all.

And what was that purpose? What was and is the purpose of God causing us to remain steadfast under the persecution and suffering that we endure? His own glorification!

When God causes us to persevere, when God blesses us and makes us to remain steadfast, God overcomes, God is victorious, and because of that, God is glorified!

And because we are the people of God, His chosen vessels that He makes steadfast, then we are most joyful, most satisfied, most blessed when we see Him glorified!

Beloved, look to He Who is able, look to He Who is our strength, and as you suffer, be blessed!

Amen?