PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE

PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE James 5:7-12 May 15, 2011 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction When you run the Boston Marathon you are warned that most world-class runners agree that at about mile 18 or 19 they enter in major fatigue. Most describe it as “hitting the wall,” and it is when all the glycogen in your body is depleted, and lactic acid starts leaching into your muscles. Your muscles are screaming for oxygen. You feel like you’re going to die. The other legendary discouraging factor is what is call “Heartbreak Hill.” One of the Newton Hills near Boston College, Heartbreak Hill rises 88 vertical feet in just .4 mile. But it’s location is what makes it a heartbreaker: remember where the world class runners hit the wall? Mile 19? Well Heartbreak Hill starts at mile 20. Imagine that—the most arduous uphill stretch of the entire race convenes at the most discouraging point. James knew that Christians often hit the wall as well. We run out of steam, our spiritual stamina stretched to the limits. Then and there, when we’re at our most vulnerable, Satan attacks with his most severe temptations and discouragements, trying to take us down. One of the key reasons James wrote the epistle we have been studying on Sunday mornings for nine months now was to bring encouragement to the believers who were facing such trials and were in danger of giving up. Whatever your challenges are in terms of faithfully living out the gospel—if you are feeling like you are about to go under for the third time, let this message from James speak to your heart. The Word speaks to two related issues here in the 5th chapter: Patience and Perseverance. THE FRUITFULNESS OF PATIENCE Verse 7: Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. Here is the word James has for the one who is at the end of his rope: Hang on until the Lord’s coming! James knew what every believer has come to know—that when the end comes, when Jesus comes to claim His own, when we are finally with Him, the battles are over. We can relax, because our full salvation has come, and the reward He bought for us is finally ours. That will be a glorious day—the commencement of our eternity with Him! But until then we remain in this hostile world where the devil is prince and persecution and trial are standard operations. Here is his vital reminder to Christians under stress: God has designed fruitfulness for you even in difficult times, if you are patient. If you want to know how to be successful in living out the life of faith in the face of challenges, there is an important element of approach. James says, look to the farmer. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. In the climate of Israel the early rains arrive annually in October-November, and the latter rains come around in April and May. The farmer has to wait a long time for the harvest. And it’s a nervous wait, hopeful for enough rain, but no floods; praying for enough sun without drought. You planted grass seed or rose bushes or maybe even a vegetable garden, and you know that the anticipated harvest doesn’t come nearly as fast as you’d like. I put in some tomato plants a couple weeks ago and I confess a wave of discouragement washed over me as I read the tag: 65 days to ripen. Why can’t engineers isolate that highspeed gene that works so well in dandelions, and inject it into tomatoes? Probably because our tomatoes would taste like collard greens and little yellow flowers! If you want that sweet, succulent flavor that you can only get in a fully ripened summer Better Boy tomato, you are going to have to wait for it to develop. One bite of that dripping red wonder on a BLT and it will be worth the wait. Our reward is ripening every day, as we draw one day nearer the second coming of Jesus and the conclusion of this fallen world. Be patient. It will be worth the wait. So be patient, and stand firm in living for Him, whatever it takes, whatever the cost. There is awesome power and victory even in this life when you are patient and stand firm. Remember, fellow Christian, 2 Peter 1:3 reminds us: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. He goes on to describe those resources in this way: great and precious promises. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have His Holy Spirit resident in you and you are powerfully enabled to bear up under any trouble or trial. You are ennobled and enabled to have a FIXED HEART. Greater is the One who is in you than the one who is in the world. Psalm 37:23-24 – The Lord delights in the way of a man who steps he has made firm; though he stumble he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him by His hand. He gives you a fixed heart! When Satan knocks you down with worldly discouragement, get right back up and rebuke him calling on the promise of Psalm 35- Don’t you gloat over me, O enemy! Though I’ve fallen I will rise! May all who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion; may all who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and disgrace. May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.” Jesus looked Peter in the eye and said, “You are going to deny me three times before the morning rooster crows!” But later also said, “When you turn back, strengthen your brothers.” You’re going to fall down spiritually, Pete. But when you do I will empower you to get back up and run! That’s a “fixed heart.” The great Maury Wills held the record for 60’s for the most stolen bases six years in a row. In 1965 he had a dubious record—he not only had the record for the most stolen bases, he also held the record for the most times caught stealing—31 times. But he kept getting up and trying again! Patience isn’t just a passive sense of letting Satan run roughshod over you. You bear fruit in patience when you fight the good fight of faith, and bear up under the enemy’s taunts. You are patiently involved in God’s Harvest, He has given you the divine capacity for a Fixed Heart, and you have the Fellowship’s Help. I am here to remind you, brothers and sisters in Christ, that God has also given you the church fellowship to help you stand firm. You may feel as though the church is not the strong, supportive family she is supposed to be; you may wish the strengthening and encouraging of the fellowship were better than it is, and I would agree with you that the modern western church has left its mooring in many ways, but it is the Lord’s church. And He has called us to be supporters and encouragers of one another. James is pretty clear in verse 9 that there are issues in the churches that weaken her effectiveness. But he doesn’t give up on the church. Rather he commands the Christians to stop the behaviors that are weakening her: Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! This is a strong warning to the body of saved people to stop subverting the church’s fellowship with infighting, personal squabbles and divisive behaviors. This issue deserves serious consideration. Did you know that when you speak against a brother or sister in Christ, or grumble and grouse about them, you are destroying the very fabric of the agency of help that God ordained to support you in your Christian walk? James urges us all – Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Preserve the unity and love of the Christian community; in the process help yourself, because you’re going to need that church. Let me suggest a quick way to overcome the gravitational pull of a negative spirit and a complaining tongue: Be thankful. Always look for the good and thank God for it. Let me use the wise words of John Henry Jowett, a British preacher of 100 years ago: "Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic." What did he mean? He meant that gratitude, like a vaccine, can prevent the invasion of a disgruntled, discouraged spirit. Like an antitoxin, gratitude can prevent the affects of the poisons of cynicism, criticalness, and grumbling. Like an antiseptic, a spirit of gratitude can soothe and heal the most troubled spirit. Transition: There is fruitfulness in the harvest, blessedness in perseverance. THE BLESSEDNESS OF PERSEVERANCE James is writing to fairly young Christians in the churches who are struggling with serious suffering. As he tries to encourage them to patiently endure, he calls on a couple of Old Testament examples that have inspired and blessed believers for millennia. Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned. There are plainly three truths in these three verses—three realities that, when properly understood, provide strong motivation for Christ-followers to bear up under suffering and live victoriously in this world. See if they aren’t helpful to you. The first thing is that we recognize that all Christians, if truly determined to live for Christ, will suffer. Jesus said, They hated me; they will hate you. But He also said, In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. The first of two examples James mentions is the general term, “the prophets.” These are the faithful preachers of the Old Covenant era. They served the will of God, and yet they suffered. Can we once and for all dispense with the lie that if you are serving the Lord, He will protect you from problems? Satan tells us believers that our suffering is the result of our sin or unfaithfulness, but most of our suffering comes as the direct result of our being faithful! Paul put it this way in 2 Tim. 3:12 –   In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of…Persevere The prophets endured great trials and persecution, not only from the heathen, but even from those who were professed believers in God. They were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and killed, and only on occasion did God intervene to spare them. Some were delivered, but the others who died for the faith are the recipients of that future reward that will vindicate them and be so glorious that it will erase the injury of all they went through. The second example is Job in verse 11. You won’t find a greater example of someone who suffered than Job. Every circumstance of his life crashed in on him: he lost his great wealth and his health; all his children were killed, along with their children. His wife turned against him and his friends accused him of secret sins and hypocrisy, saying he deserved God’s judgment. Moreover, it seemed that God was against him. He raised his voice in prayer and anger and a demand for justice. And for the longest time there was no reply from heaven. But Job endured. Satan had predicted that Job would be impatient with God and abandon his faith, but Job didn’t cave. In fact, Job was so sure of God’s love and grace, and so secure in his relationship with Him, that he argued with God, honestly and boldly, complaining that he didn’t know what God was doing. Job came to the same conclusion he had reached when he had his riches and family and other blessings: God was in the entire process revealing Himself as gracious and merciful. Through his suffering Job met God in a deeper way and developed a more profound relationship with Him. Then, afterwards, God restored everything to Job in even greater measure. But if God were rich in mercy and grace, why did He allow all the suffering to begin with? We don’t know. All we know is His ways are mysterious and wonderful—beyond our ability to understand. What we do know, though, is this: in the whole ordeal God was glorified and honored, and Job was purified and matured. Listen, if there is nothing to endure, we cannot learn endurance. The troubles and trials God allows us to go through are for our own good—to burn out our impurities, heal our woundedness and bring us to maturity in the knowledge and person of Christ. Not only are we protected by God and empowered by God in every test and trial, but He uses all these experiences to grow us. Satan wants us to become impatient with God, convince ourselves that He is uncaring and unfaithful. But that is the devil’s lie. If we allow ourselves, we can let the evil one win the battle in our lives. We can run on ahead of God or sulk in a corner that He has not done our bidding, and we will be miserable. When we do that, two things result: God is not glorified and we are not purified. On the other hand, if we face the troubles of the world, the flesh and the devil and remain steadfast, we will be, according to verse 7, “HAPPY”. You know, as I talk and interact with people, that pretty much summarizes what everyone wants, doesn’t it? They want to be happy. Here’s an interesting perspective: everyone, both Christian and non-Christian, wants to be happy. The difference is faith. One group wants to be happy in their own way—and they never can be happy that way—and the other group wants to be happy in God’s way—and they will. Now, the final point found in verse 12. This verse seems to be one of those disconnected non-sequiturs that we find in James, but after meditating and studying, we discover their wisdom and their place of connectedness in the scheme of the epistle. Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned. James calls on the brothers in Christ to behave in honesty and honor before God and one another. Why? For the same reason as we saw in verse 9. God wants His church to be holy and to represent Him well to the world around us. He also wants that church family to which we belong to be strong, unified and loving so that everyone in the body can be encouraged and strengthened by His grace through them. Life in this world is a challenge for us believers, and we need all the help we can get. CONCLUSION Monday night, Aug.3, 1992, at the track and field stadium of the Barcelona Olympics the gun sounded the start of the 400-meter race. 100 meters into the race, Britain’s Derek Redmond fell to the track with a torn hamstring. Med-techs rushed to his aid, but he pushed them away. Four years earlier in Seoul, Korea Derek had to pull out because of Achilles tendon problems. Now, five surgeries and four years later, he had requalified and nothing was going to prevent his finishing. He yelled in pain, “I’m not quitting. I’m going to finish this race!” He began to hop and crawl his way to the finish line. Out of the stands bounded a big man, crashing through security, and he ran to Dereks’ side first to embrace him, then to prop him up with his arm around his waist. Doggedly they worked their way to the finish line. God is your Father, Christian. He has given you brothers and sisters for support and they are there, like a great cloud of witnesses yelling from the stands “Get up and Run!”. Some of them are there beside you whispering to you on behalf of God the words of Isaiah 46:3-4 . . . Listen to me. You whom I have upheld since you were conceived and have carried you since your birth even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He. I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you.     [ Back to Top]