Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Patience is a hard subject, and something to be quite frank, people just don’t have time for in this insta-everything culture that we are living in.

Be Patient vs.7

How patient?

Patient like a farmer, who plants, waters, and waits for a very long season.

Winter, spring, summer, and then finally the harvest of fall.

Waiting for the early and the late rains.

5:7 The righteous are to wait until the coming of the Lord (see ), when he will right all wrongs.

The early and the late rains describe the Palestinian climate, in which the autumn rains occur just after sowing and the spring rains just before harvest (; ).

Even though three-fourths of Palestine’s rain fell from December to February, these two rains were the most critical.

Crossway Bibles.

(2008).

The ESV Study Bible (p.

2398).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

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Establish Your Heart vs.8-9

We are told to establish our hearts in verse 8.

This admonition has both a positive and negative.

We are told something to do and something not to do in the process of establishing our hearts.

If we think about it in terms of heart fitness, the heart has both a need for exercise in a positive direction, and a need to rid itself of unhealthy calories that work against the positive gains in terms of overall heart fitness.

Establish Your Heart by Exercising Hope

Establish your heart on the reality that the Lord is going to come back.

1 The

Establish Your Heart by Resisting Grumbling

Establish Your Heart by Resisting Grumbling

When we people go through trying times two kinds of grumbling can take place.

Both are without patience and hope.

First, the kind of grumbling that can come from people in the midst of difficult suffering.

First, the kind of grumbling that can come from people in the midst of difficult suffering.

Think of Job’s wife, who in despair of devastating loss told her husband...

Second, the kind of grumbling that lacks patience for those who are going through the midst of the fire of affliction and suffering.

Second, the kind of grumbling that lacks patience for those who are going through the midst of the fire of affliction and suffering.

Job’s “friends” might have fallen into this category.

Think back with me over and all of the divisive complaining that James seeks to address that was taking place in the church.

Beloved we must continue to look to the Lord, remembering that he is going to return.

While we wait, while we continue to serve together, fulfilling the one another’s, may we not begin to grumble against one another.

Rather may we step up the passion to pray for one another, care for one another, provoke one another, and serve one another.

Beloved we must continue to look to the Lord, remembering that he is going to return.

Rather may we step up the passion to pray for one another, care for one another, provoke one another, and serve one another.

We don’t establish our hearts in a strong way when we become self focused and run when times are challenging.

We often don’t give patience to our brothers and sisters that are going through a hard season.

We fail to show grace and patience with those, even who have walked with us for many years and through many dark waters.

Be Steadfast vs.10-11

How steadfast are we to be?

James

God reveals to us two examples of the kind of steadfastness that he desires from his people and they are the kind that we often fall woefully short of in our expedient self -focused culture.

Remember the prophets who suffered greatly and died, ultimately for preaching the name of the Lord!

Consider the steadfastness of Job

Remember that the Lord is compassionate and merciful

We must pursue Compassion!

We must be Merciful!

1 Cor 15:

Speak with Integrity vs.12

Much discussion about the placement of this verse and whether it fits with these verses or the ones after it and if it really means the most important thing is to not swear an oath.

I believe that it seems to be best understood in light of the need to endure with our words even when we are going through great suffering and affliction.

Do not, for example say as Job’s wife did, to curse God and die.

Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth.

Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth.

Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Like so much of James writing there is a parallel with Jesus, sermon on the mount.

:34-37

Conclusion