Be Patient
Notes
Transcript
Last few weeks (sections) James has warned against being worldly and destroying others to get power,
Planning with God in mind and leaving room for Him to work,
and last week he warned against taking advantage of others, and gaining wealth by crooked means...
This week, James wraps this part of his letter up by encouraging us to be patient as we wait on the Lord.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Therefore.… see what it’s there for.
In light of those oppressing others and doing wrong out of selfish greed.
There was economic abuse, and people were struggling and suffering.
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to...
HELP IS COMING!
James says do not give in to the desire to get vengeance. Do not give in to the desire to give up.
The HS gives us strength to wait on the Lord, for He is coming.
James points back to Deuteronomy with the rain:
then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil.
Saying - Remember, we must wait for the proper timing. Jesus is coming back. God will take care of His people, so wait for Him to send what you need and are crying out for.
Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!
We’re back to 4:11-12
Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
back to 5:9
Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!
There’s a theme here in these 3 verses...God is coming, and coming soon.
And this theme is throughout the NT.
The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.
REV TO THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.
The Apostles believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime.
No one knows the day or the hour when He will return - so if anyone says they know, you know they are lying.
One of the main reasons that we are reminded of this so frequently throughout the scripture is so that we will not forget that it is happening.
This keeps up focused on doing the Lord’s work, rather than getting lazy and complacent.
It’s a motivator to not know when the master is coming back.
Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.
Theology of Suffering
Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
This is why we are often so leery of preachers and churches that preach things like prosperity gospel. “Healthy, Wealthy, and Happy”
God doesn’t want us to be miserable, but we do need to understand that the world is apposed to God.
Standing with God means the world will be apposed to us as well.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
Intense spiritual warfare is often a sign that we are following God well.
So instead of saying “God why?” we should say “God thank you, provide” and know that He is with you always, till the end of days.
See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about—the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Abide, abide in me. Hang on. Endure. Persevere.
Jesus, and the NT writers, took a great deal of time talking on this.
Don’t give up when things get difficult. That’s often a GOOD sign.
Job is quite the read and wisdom literature.
A man who God has found worthy, and the accuser (ha satan) claims he only loves God because of how God has blessed him. So God allows the accuser to do anything to Job and take anything from him other than his life.
So he does. He loses EVERYTHING, family, farm, finances…to the point where his wife tells him to curse God and die already.
Then some friends come and tell him that his suffering must be because he has done wrong, as God only punishes like this if you have wronged God.
But that’s not true, and that’s part of the lesson of Job.
In fact, in the end God talks to Job and basically says “You think you could run this? You don’t even know a FRACTION of the things at all that I work with intimately to keep things together.”
And Job confesses and repents, and God blesses him with twice of what he had before.
Job endured, yes while wrestling with God, but he endured.
God is not apposed to our questions or wrestling with Him in our struggles. But we need to remain faithful, even in our moments of doubt.
Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.
Jesus spoke this
But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.
People then were like people now - they were manipulative!
It wasn’t uncommon for people to oppress others by putting them in impossible situations, and getting the other to sign a contract (or swear an oath), and then either not honor their part, or make a loophole for themselves, or to simply make it impossible for them to complete.
So Jesus tells us to simply have our word be our word. Yes or no. There’s no need to take that further.
Worship Team
Trust God, wait for him to move, and don’t put yourself (or others) in potentially devastating situations with your promises.
See heavy spiritual warfare as a sign that you are in step with God, and endure!
Most importantly, do not give up.
Now is the time to dig in, roll up those sleeves, and do the dirty work.
Faith is messy, let’s embrace that!
Pray -
Father, thank you for being who you are, and for not giving up on us. Thank you for your ways, and maintaining order behind the scenes. Even with today’s science, all we know is that we know very very little about how how all thing work, especially how they work together. Guide us. Do not forget your people. Help us to wait on you when your pace feels drastically different from our own. And for those of us who are struggling, in situations that are preventing us from moving onward and upward, God, give us strength. Help us to come together as a family and support one another. Help the people of Rolla to see this unity and love that we have for one another and be drawn to it, like a moth to flame. Be with us as we are being there for those around us.
And the church said - amen.
