Suffering and Patience
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Connection: Have you ever wondered how it is that someone can bear such terrible suffering, oppression, hurt, and damage; maybe from a spouse, from a co-worker, from a boss, or from the government; and yet they still decide to not lash back at them, they don’t decide to start a revolution, rather, they don’t seek to repay evil for evil—they remain patient in their suffering as they entrust ultimate judgement to the living God who is the Judge of all mankind. This person knows that it is not their place to be the Judge; that belongs to God alone. So, with the hope of the Gospel gripping their hearts, they press on, knowing with confidence that one day the Lord will return to right all wrongs, to condemn the wicked, the vindicate the church, and to wipe away all of our tears. How did they press on in this way? With eyes fixed on their coming King. The title for my sermon this morning is:
Theme: Suffering and Patience
Need: We need to reorient our hearts toward the hope of the second coming of Jesus and live accordingly in these last days—with steadfast and resilient patience even at the face of great suffering.
Purpose: To encourage the church in the second coming of Jesus Christ; to exhort the church to patience and endurance; to rebuke the church in the sin of grumbling; and to comfort the church in the hope of glory.
Read Text: James 5:7-11 ESV
PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY
(1) We Must Wait with Patience for the Coming of Jesus - v7-8.
(1) We Must Wait with Patience for the Coming of Jesus - v7-8.
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
(1) We Must Wait with Patience for the Coming of Jesus - v7-8.
(1) We Must Wait with Patience for the Coming of Jesus - v7-8.
The first exhortation from James is: “Be patient, my brothers” (v7a).
Patience. Patience is probably one of the hardest virtues to live by in the process of following Jesus. Patience. Especially for us, living in a fast-food, same-day shipping, tik-tok scrolling culture. We have lost the divine-art and holy-virtue of patience. Why is patience so important to James? Did you notice that James mentions it three times in 2 verses? It seems like he is trying to drive a point home.
Patience. What is it? One scholar and commentator says this:
Patience is a virtue possessed by few and sought by many. We are living in a society that champions the word instant. But to be patient, as James uses the word, is much more than passively waiting for the time to pass. Patience is the art of enduring someone whose conduct is [harsh] and sometimes even oppressive.
The old English term long-suffering does not mean to suffer a while but to tolerate someone for a long time. To say it differently, patience is the opposite of being short-tempered. God displays patience by being “slow to anger” when man continues in sin even after numerous admonitions (Exod. 34:6; Ps. 86:15; Rom. 2:4; 9:22; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 3:15). Man ought to reflect that divine virtue in his day-to-day life.
James knows that the readers of his epistle are unable to defend themselves against their oppressors. Therefore, he urges them to exercise patience and to leave matters in the hands of God, who is coming to deliver them. Even if they were able to do so, they should not take matters into their own hands. God has said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay” (Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:12; Heb. 10:30)
Here we see that patience is not only waiting for your pizza-delivery to arrive; it’s also enduring wrongdoing while not seeking to repay the wrongdoing by your own shining revenge.
The churches that James were writing to were under great persecution and oppression from the wicked world, and from sinful explosions in the church, James reminded them that they were not to try and act as if they were the Lord to repay all deeds. No. That is not our job. We are the servants and children of God—we are not the Lord—we love, obey, and submit ourselves to the Lord, we don’t try and be the one to bring the ultimate sentence to bear against the wicked.
But why are we called to be patient in the light of such suffering and oppression and persecution? Because Jesus is coming again as our Saviour and as the Judge of the world who will vindicate his church and bring justice against the world.
James then adds: “until the coming of the Lord” (v. 7b)
When Jesus returns he will bring justice and salvation. James has already told us this in chapter 4:12: “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”.
We are not called to repay those who do us wrong with our own actions or words, with evil speechand slander. We are not called to lash back at those who sin against us. Rather, we are to be patient with those who do wrong to us, and we are to entrust their judgment into the hands of the only lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. This is biblical patience in the face of evil.
The Apostle Peter says this in 1 Peter 4:19: “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good”.
When you are suffering for righteousness sake, when you are suffering for being a follower of Jesus, when you are suffering as one who is fixing his eyes on the Lord—then do not seek to bring down suffering upon the one who oppresses you, rather, entrust your soul to your faithful Creator and Judge while continuing to do good. This is patience. One writer reminds us that:
“James is writing to suffering Christians, hurting believers, people who follow the Lord Jesus with very real pain in their hearts and with heavy burdens on their shoulders as they follow in his footsteps” (171).
Do any of you feel that weight and pressure from living in this fallen and wicked world? What might that look and feel like today? How does this patience that James is calling us to actually live itself out in our day and age? Here's a few thoughts:
If our neighbours slander us for being Christians, we don’t slander them back.
If our reputation is put on the line by a false-accusation, we don’t seek to destroy their reputation.
If our boss unjustly treats us, we don’t explode with anger in their face.
If our co-worker swears and curses at us, we don’t respond in the same way.
If someone steals from us, we don’t seek to steal from them.
If someone murders one of our family members, we don’t bring the gang to go and get theirs.
James wants us to be patient in the face of affliction and evil. Just like Paul tells us to be:
English Standard Version Chapter 12
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Patience and Revenge, in the Christian life, are polar opposites.
Last week we saw that James has rebuked the way of sinful and unbelieving rich folk in the world, and now he is showing the church how she is to act in these last days. He gives us a farming analogy to help:
He writes: “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient.” (v7c-8a).
At a recent meeting I asked our brother Mark Millar, who is a farmer, if he could see his crop growing all the time by constantly + anxiously staring at it. He said no. Why? Because growth takes time, which requires patience of the farmer. He has to wait for the right weather conditions, with rain and healthy soil and nutrients, blessed by God, for the crop to grow. A farmer knows very well what patience is.
Thus, James says, like the farmer, we need to be patient for the end-time growth and harvest. Just as he told us that the day of slaughter is coming for the wicked, he is reminding us now that on this day of Judgement, when the Lord Jesus returns to bring justice and and salvation, all wrongs will be made right and the wrath of God will repay all evil.
So, he tells the church to be patient. But he doesn’t just leave us there.
He also adds: Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
We aren’t just to be patient with the opposition we receive from the wicked world, we are also to strengthen our hearts, to establish our hearts, to grow in confidence and hope, because of the sure fact that the Lord Jesus Christ and his 2nd Coming is at Hand, it is drawing near.
Paul tells us that it is the Gospel that strengths our hearts through the preaching of the Word in Romans 16:25. James says the same thing here. When we proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, we are proclaiming his life, death, and resurrection. But we are also proclaiming his return when he will judge the wicked and bring us into the new-creation, the new-world, free from all sin, evil, death, destruction, decay, hell, Satan, enemies, and pain. All suffering will one day be cast away for those who trust in Jesus. Look to Jesus and you can know that you have a refuge in the Lamb of God on the final day of wrath and judgement! That is the only way that anyone can establish their heart for this day—with faith and assurance. Those who are not trusting in Jesus and living for Jesus should have no confidence, but only fear and dread as the wrath of God approaches. Don’t wait until it’s too late! Flee from the wrath to come and find salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour!
Why are we to be patient in suffering? Because God will remove all of our suffering and hardship in his perfect and gracious timing.
(1) We Must Wait with Patience for the Coming of Jesus
This leads us to our second point:
(2) We Must not Grumble before the Judge who is Jesus - v9.
(2) We Must not Grumble before the Judge who is Jesus - v9.
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
(2) We Must not Grumble before the Judge who is Jesus -v9.
(2) We Must not Grumble before the Judge who is Jesus -v9.
First of all, James commands us, in the authority of the Holy Spirit, to “not grumble against one another” (v. 9a).
The pressure and persecution from the outside world seemed to be causing some tension on the inside of the church. God’s people were channeling, or for a modern term: they were venting their anger into actual groaning toward each other.
Their frustration wasn’t taken to God in prayer, it was redirected toward each other.
Do you ever have something on your chest that is really bothering you, and your just like a fuse that is about to go off? If your wife or kids or even your dog tries to talk to you (or bark at you), you just seem to explode and fire that anger and frustration at them? This is what seems to be happening in the church that James is writing to: they were lashing out, they were groaning and grumbling against one another because of the pressure of their hardships.
James says, this ought not to be so. After we thoughT James was done rebuking the sins of our tongue, which we cannot tame, which produces a restless evil, he reminds us once again to not grumble against one another. Groaning and Grumbling poisons the heart, and poisons the community; it keeps you from walking with a pure heart before Jesus and before each other. One pastor says:
Groaning and grumbling is the opposite of being joyful and thankful. Although at times the believer may find himself in unenviable living conditions, the fact remains that when he begins to grumble, he falls into sin. He sins because he accuses God, perhaps indirectly, for the misfortunes he receives.
Do you ever let bitterness and groaning get the best of you? Do you ever grumble against your church members? Against your brother and sisters in Christ? Do you speak poorly about them, behind their backs. Do you voice your problems with a church member to your friend before actually going to this church member 1 on 1? These things ought not to be so. James is reminding us that our love should be pure, honest, truthful, and fervent. But James doesn’t end here. He gives us a reason why we shouldn’t grumble. He says:
“So that you may not be judged” (v. 9b).
Why does James calls us away from grumbling against one another, lacking true love, pure religion, and true good works? He rebukes us in our sin so that we may not be judged.
You might remember all the way back in chapter 2 where James tells us that we are to act and live as those who are going to be judged by the perfect law of liberty. Here James reminds us of the very same point: On the Day of Judgment, when Jesus returns to send unbelievers to hell, and believers to heaven, our good works will be examined and assessed.
Why? for two main purposes: (1) To vindicate our faith by our good works before the scoffing world, and (2) To be blessed with rewards for our love for God and our Neighbors. Our good works do not ground our entrance into heaven (only the blood and righteousness of Jesus can do that); our good works prove to the world that we belong to Jesus. But they also prove who was a true believer in the church! Those who merely make an intellectual claim to believe, without a hearty trust in Jesus—which produces love and good works—those hypocrites will be tossed into outer darkness.
Thus, James says to us again: Trust in Jesus, and Love Him! Rest in Christ, and Serve Him! And remember, you are going to be judged on the last day—if you are found without love for Jesus and his Church, you will be shown to be false—but if you are found with love for Jesus and his Church, then you will be shown to be true, born of God, and a co-heir with Jesus who will bless you with the eternal kingdom and the promised crown of life! And if you have love for Jesus now—you have the Holy Spirit—and if you have the Holy Spirit then you belong to Jesus and are safe and secure.
But sometimes we forget about the impending day of judgment, don’t we?
Thus, James says: “Behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” (v. 9c).
Don’t think you can escape this Judge. He is already at the door. His hand is on the door knob. The moment that He deems fit, he will bring all history to an end—he will summon all humans to his throne—and he will bless the righteous with eternal life, and curse the wicked with eternal death.
Are you right with this Judge? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ? Will you meet his mercy on the last day? Or will you meet his wrath? There is only one way to know the answer to that question: Where are you placing your confidence for salvation?
Is it in your own efforts? Is it in your own good works? Is it in your own power? Is it in your own love? Is it in your own wisdom? Is it in your own finances? Is it in your own charity? Then you will hear the dreadful words on the last day: “away from me, for I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23).
On the contrary, are you placing the confidence of your salvation in Jesus Christ? In his birth of Mary the Virgin? In his perfect life of obedience to God’s law? In his perfect love to God and neighbor? In his perfect and sacrificial death on the cross? In his blood which satisfied God’s wrath, the punishment due to our sins? In his resurrection and new life from the dead? Securing his victory over the grave? In his ascension into heaven to plead and pray for us and to hold us fast? Is this where you are placing your confidence, and this alone? In Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory? Are you trusting in Him alone, which produces the fruit of love for Jesus?
Then take heart beloved, for you will be examined, and you will be found with faith, hope, and love, the fruit of the Spirit, the Wisdom from Above, and you can rest assured as you hear these joyous words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter now into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).
Oh yes, this Jesus is both Lord and Christ; both King and Saviour; He is both Judge and Redeemer. James says that Jesus is the Judge. This is fearful news for the wicked, but oh such great news for those who are looking to him with the eye of faith and living for him with the heart of love. What a comfort that this Jesus, who is our Redeemer, will come back as the Judge of the world to free us from all suffering and bring us into his eternal abode. Oh blessed Lord Jesus, our only Hope in Life and in Death. He is Hope. He is Life. He is Peace. James knows that we need to hear this over and over again to sustain us in our pilgrim journey, and to keep us serving Him with true affection.
One writer says:
“Who is Jesus? James calls him ‘the Lord’ four times in these verses. It’s a simple way of stressing that we are waiting for the one who is in charge of everything; absolutely everything in all the earth is in Jesus’s hands. More than this, who else is he? As well as Lord, he is ‘the Judge’. So we are not just waiting for the one who is in charge of everything; we’re waiting for the one who can fix everything. This is the glorious gospel: God made it, we broke it, and Jesus fixes it.” (174).
Jesus alone can fix our biggest problems in life. He is the only Mediator and Friend of Sinners. Run to Him, and Live for Him, with great Hope. And in the meantime, do not grumble against one another but seek to love one another for the sake of the Kingdom and for the glory of his holy name!
(2) We Must not Grumble before the Judge who is Jesus
This leads us to our third point:
(3) We Must be Steadfast in Suffering for Jesus - v10-11.
(3) We Must be Steadfast in Suffering for Jesus - v10-11.
As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 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.
(3) We Must be Steadfast in Suffering for Jesus - v10-11.
(3) We Must be Steadfast in Suffering for Jesus - v10-11.
Instead of starting a revolution in the face of suffering, Christians are to follow the example of the godly prophets in the OT. James says:
“As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” (v. 10).
Are you suffering this morning? Are you bearing the weight of hardship, trials, health issues, persecution, pain, oppression and many other realities of suffering? James says: Look to the Scriptures. Look to the OT which God has written for our instruction and for our guidance in the Christian life. He points us to the example of the prophets, those men of God that were set apart by God for the ministry of bringing God’s Word and Revelation to his people. And this occurred normally when his people were turning their backs on God—which led them to be very hostile to the prophetic rebukes + warnings of the judgment to come if there was no repentance and faith.
Note: Faithful ministers of God’s Word do not shy away from preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word: The Law and the Gospel, the Curses and the Blessings, the Commands and the Promises, Repentance and Faith, Obedience and Rest—even in the face of hostility, even from their own church.
James says: look to the faithful prophets of old who were slandered and spat upon and beaten and abused because of their faithful testimony to the name of the Lord.
Hebrews 11:35-38 tells us:
Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
This was the lot of faithful prophets who stood for God’s Word amidst a generation of wicked men and women who stood against God’s Word. One commentator says:
Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Amos also saw the people ignore their prophecies while Israel’s leaders were often hostile. Yet they bore that hostility with patience. More than that, they endured, that is, they continued to prophesy. They continued to denounce covenant infidelity and evil deeds, even if they never saw the judgment they predicted. Still we count them blessed because they heard and proclaimed God’s very words. They show us how to endure.
Faithfulness in the Christian life is through suffering. We conquer through our suffering as we proclaim Jesus Christ to a dying world, as we live for Jesus Christ in a hostile world, and as we suffer for Jesus Christ in a painful world. Jesus himself told us this was our fate: “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). God’s suffering people press on through tribulation: “When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure” (1 Cor. 4:12). Why? Because our homeland is in heaven, our kingdom is not of this world, it is held by Jesus Christ for us, as we await “the kingdom that God has promised to all those who love him” (James 2:4).
We will be pressed and persecuted in this life, by the wicked world, by the devil himself, by our own flesh which weighs us down—but we press on. The Holy Spirit says to us:
English Standard Version Chapter 8
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
James says to us: press on like the prophets of old, for they were looking to the eternal kingdom. Be patient in suffering. For even the prophets of old were speaking in the name of Yawheh, as are we, when we proclaim the Scriptures, when we proclaim the name of Jesus—for Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh—the Godman.
But he also turns our eyes not just toward patience in suffering, but also toward being steadfast in suffering. He adds:
“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” (v. 11).
Dear suffering and afflicted saint, weary Christian, take heart. James reminds us: Those who are steadfast in their suffering are actually the truly blessed ones.
The blessed ones are not those who are living their best life now. The blessed ones are those who are pressing on their pilgrimage from this world to the next, with their eyes fixed on Jesus, the Lord of Glory. Those who endure to the end, Jesus tells us, will be saved (Matt. 10:22). And if you are born-again by the Holy Spirit, you will endure, because you are, “by God’s power, being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). Jesus says:
English Standard Version Chapter 5
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Blessed are you, Christian, if you are being pressed by the world—for this shows that your home is in the kingdom of heaven.
James says, look to the OT man of suffering: Job. Look at his immense loss; his immense pain; his immense grief; his immense hardship; his immense turmoil and trauma. He lost his children, servants, house, livestock, and all within moments of each other. But he was steadfast. He pressed on through the tribulation. He endured. And he was blessed.
James says: remember how even through this the Lord’s purpose was gracious, how the Lord is “compassionate and merciful” to his afflicted saints in suffering and trials. Do you remember the outcome of the story of Job? After Job was steadfast, keeping his faith fixed on the Lord his Redeemer whom He know He would see face to face one day in Jesus—the Lord restored his fortunes two-fold. The Lord blessed him and gave him even more than he had lost.
English Standard Version Chapter 42
10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
The Lord was gracious in his purpose, compassionate in his heart, and merciful in his actions to Job. This is his heart toward his suffering and afflicted saints. He brings grace upon grace, and blessing upon blessing—which will be consummated and perfected in the age to come.
In your pain—the Lord is gracious.
In your challenges—the Lord is compassionate.
In your depression—the Lord is merciful.
In your oppression—the Lord is with you.
In your suffering—the Lord is for you.
In your trauma—the Lord is your strength.
In persecution—the Lord is our warrior.
In all of life—God is refining you, and preparing you for eternal-resurrection-glory-and-life. God is preparing you for the crown of life. God is preparing you for the kingdom. God is preparing you for heaven. God is preparing you for eternity—world, without end—in the presence of God and the Lamb and the Spirit. This is our better country, our true homeland, our eternal dwelling. In all of life—God is preparing you for glory.
On the last day there is the final resurrection of the dead; the righteous to eternal life and the wicked to eternal death. And Paul proclaims this hope of the church:
English Standard Version Chapter 15
Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Like the prophets of old, like Job the man of God, be steadfast for Jesus, for the hope that is in Jesus—for He is coming again as Judge, yes, but also as our Redeemer who will bring us into life everlasting. Suffering precedes glory; and at the end comes eternal blessing:
English Standard Version Chapter 4
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
James wants us to keep our eyes on Jesus—on the coming of the Lord—who is coming with salvation for the church and judgment for the wicked—and we are to live for Him, be patient for Him, and to be steadfast for Him.
(3) We Must be Steadfast in Suffering for Jesus
This leads us to our Conclusion:
(C) Establish your Heart with the 2nd Coming of Jesus and Patiently Endure Suffering in the Hope of Glory
(C) Establish your Heart with the 2nd Coming of Jesus and Patiently Endure Suffering in the Hope of Glory
David Gibson gives a great summary of this text:
“One of the ways God heals our divided hearts is by establishing them with the judgement to come. IN other words, there is a kind of wholeness available to us in this life that comes from deep, mature, humble, and profound acceptance of the fact that perfect wholeness will be possible only in the next life, on the side of Jesus’s coming again as Judge. This is the kind of wholeness that comes from learning to believe that vengeance belongs to the God who will only ever do what is right. There is a healing of my wounds that can come, in time, from knowing that one day the handle of world history will turn, and the door will swing open to reveal Jesus, the Lord and Judge, who has now come to put everything right. Such a hope can take a divided, restless heart and establish it for resolute, patient waiting” (180).
With the hope of the Gospel gripping our hearts, we press on, knowing with confidence that one day the Lord will return to right all wrongs, to condemn the wicked, the vindicate the church, and to wipe away all of our tears. How did we press on in this way? With our eyes fixed on our coming Lord, Saviour, and Judge.
(C) Establish your Heart with the 2nd Coming of Jesus and Patiently Endure Suffering in the Hope of Glory
(C) Establish your Heart with the 2nd Coming of Jesus and Patiently Endure Suffering in the Hope of Glory
Amen, let’s pray.