Bearing the Burdens
Notes
Transcript
Life isn’t fair.
There will be wrongs happen to us because of sin that will never be made right. THIS IS CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE
God will right every wrong one day
Every life is different and no 2 lives will be identical . THIS DOES LINE UP WITH SCRIPTURE
God never said life would be fair. We are made different with unique strengths, character, personality, appearances, hair colour, eye colour, skin colour
I can bear the burden because of Christ’s imminent return
I can bear the burden because of Christ’s imminent return
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
THEREFORE
Trials and temptations - Ch 1
Poverty and preferential treatment of the rich - Ch 2
Hurtful communication - Ch 3
Fighting and warring - Ch 4
Unpaid wages and corrupt business practises - Ch 5
Through all this, James says, Be patient!
Why?!
The coming of the Lord
Rapture
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
Judgement seat of Christ - wrongs between believers will be settled
Second coming of Jesus
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Jesus will rule righteously for 1,000 years
Before a new Heaven and earth is made, every wrong ever done will be made perfectly right:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
God never tells us that wrongs will be made right in our lifetime
Notice the illustration James uses:
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Grandpa Schubert’s vineyard - He planted it -
Plant the vines
Nuture the vines
Support the vines
Bear a bit of fruit
Grandma said - the vines did not produce fruit to their fullest while he was alive
I remember going out to the vines and seeing them heavy and full of grapes
Growing fruit takes time:
Early rain - End of October
Summer is dry - the dry soil is moistened and made plowable for the crops
Winter is rain, occasionally a bit of snow
Latter rain - March & April
Harvest would come after the spring/latter rain
I can bear the burden because of the Lord’s promise
I can bear the burden because of the Lord’s promise
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
In case you forgot about patience, continue with patience
We want every wrong to be made right immediately
That is not how God always works
As we are patient, God does a work in our hearts:
Stablish - to confirm (strengthen) v. — to make more marked by firm determination or resolution.
While the rich use their solicitors and wealth for strength; our strength is developed through Godly character.
Riches can be taken in a moment
Character develops deep roots strengthening us for what lies ahead
Isaiah warned Israel of the coming day of the Lord. He saw war, famine, death, disaster, oppression, and panic. But there was still God!
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee.
I can bear the burden because of God’s sufficiency
I can bear the burden because of God’s sufficiency
Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Grudge - complain
Holding a grudge
Lest ye be condemned
James reminds us that there it is possible that the one doing the complaining is the one in the wrong
The Lord is watching. He’s standing at the door.
I can bear the burden because of God
I can bear the burden because of God
James gives some Godly examples:
The prophets
Jam 5:10
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Hardly any of the prophets were welcomed by their contemporaries. The two who did have instant and spectacular results were Jonah and Nahum, both of whom prophesied regarding Ninevah. In the one case, instantaneous repentance resulted; in the other case, instantaneous and spectacular ruin occurred.
For the most part, the prophets were highly unpopular preachers to the consciences of their countrymen. Hosea was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Amos was doubtless popular enough in Israel—as long as he denounced the surrounding nations—but the high priest of the calf cult threatened him at once when he denounced Israel. Micah was the first prophet to threaten Jerusalem with destruction. He must have been about as popular as a skunk at a Sunday school picnic! Habakkuk was called upon to utter woe after woe against his countrymen. Haggai saw success, but his contemporary and colleague Zechariah was murdered. Isaiah, after a distinguished career, was sawn in half in a hollow tree by Manasseh. And as for Jeremiah, he wept his way through life. John the Baptist was murdered, and so was Jesus.
God uses the prophets in time of crisis or apostasy
Never promised success
Did not build great cathedrals
Their call was based upon conviction and courage seasoned plentifully with patience
The prophets struggled, some even dealt with deep depression, but the Lord was with them every step of the way.
Do not dismay! Things may not go like we anticipate, but we can be assured of the inseparable love and goodness of God that will strengthen us in times of burden
The testimony
Jam 5:11
Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Happy - blessed
Those that endure we look at their lives through Scripture and call them blessed
Job - ILLUSTRATE WITH SONG BOOKS
Livestock - Gone - 1 BOOK
Children - all killed - 1 BOOK
Job 1:20-22
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Mysterious disease - 1 BOOK
Wife turned on him - 2 BOOKS
Job 2:10
But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Friends accused him - 1 BOOK
Throughout this entire process
The Lord is very pitiful - Full of pity or compassionate or tenderhearted
Ps 103:13-14
Like as a father pitieth his children, So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.
His mercy is shown
Ps 103:17
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, And his righteousness unto children’s children;
Ps 103:11-12
For as the heaven is high above the earth, So great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
The end of the Lord
God blessed and used Job in even greater ways giving Job more than he ever envisioned!
At the end, those that endure under the burdens God allows us to carry, there is a WELL DONE! waiting ahead