Patient Endurance (James 5:7-12)

INTODUCTION:

Our text for today is James 5:7-12:

“7 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. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 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. 12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”

The late Dr. Albert Schweitzer, famous medical missionary, was once asked what is the best way to raise children. He replied,

“There are three ways: by example, by example, and by example.”

I think the same is true for teaching us how to suffer.

Three examples of how to suffer well.

James 1:2 “2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,”

We began this book talking about suffering and James comes back to it again.

So how do we practically need to do have that joy and peace in suffering?

Here are some observations. to set the stage

• The word “patient” is used three times in verses 7-8 and “patience” is used in verse 10.•

The tone is tender as James refers to his readers as “brothers”

three times in verse 7, verse 9 and verse 10.

This is in contrast to the opening verses in this chapter, which are rather terse.

This passage is linked to verses 1-6 by the use of “therefore,”

which means this section provides a game plan

when we’re in a waiting room because of some kind of injustice or suffering.

Sometimes when we go through Biblical mans of Reconciliation the offending party refuses to cooperate.

Sometimes the guilty get off from civil judgment and the visictim is left suffering.

Justice will always bee handed down.

Cross of Christ

In hell as the offender/oppressor pays for their actions.

• The overriding focus is on the second coming of Christ.

Verse 7 - “until the coming of the Lord.”

Verse 8 - “for the coming of the Lord is at hand”

and verse 9 - “behold, the Judge is standing at the door.”

This can be translated as “right on the edge; just about to happen.”

It’s the next event on God’s calendar. Romans 13:12: “The night is far gone; the day is at hand.”

Those who are the most persecuted look forward to the Second Coming the most.

Incidentally, did you know there are over 300 references to Christ’s return in the New Testament?

That’s one out of every 13 verses!

Three examples of how to suffer well.

Endure like a farmer by waiting.

James 5:7-8 “7 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. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

The verb makrothymeō, which means both “be patient” and “wait,” occurs four times in verses 7–10.

They are to bear up in the hard times and trust God to end it all in his time. This combines passive waiting with an active trust in the Triune Godhead.

Not growing up on a farm, I never knew how nerve racking farming can get. You are in an-occupation that the majority of your pay and future is based on everything that is out of oyur control. You cannot control the sun and the weather.

Some has changed form the early days in Palestine, but science and technology can only take us just so far. Just ask the farmers in the west that are having to kill livestock and destroy their crops due to the drought in the west.

For thousands of years farmers in the Holy Land have experienced an annual cycle of dry and rainy seasons.

The dry season, running roughly from June through September, leaves the soil parched.

The rainy season, however, quenches the land in two six-week periods in

October and November (the “early rains”) and then

again in April and May (the “latter rains”).

The early rains allow seeds to germinate.

After a long wait, the latter rains cause the plants to take root and grow.

While the land is in its dry season for those five months, farmers eagerly watch the skies for God to send rain and produce a bountiful crop (Jer. 5:24; Joel 2:23; Zech. 10:1).

When James likens the farmer’s anticipation of the latter rains to the believer’s expectation of the Lord’s return,

he emphasizes the need for patience.

Though we are not yet receiving the blessing of final salvation planted in our lives by the seed of faith,

our unbreakable new covenant promise of salvation guarantees that one day God will rain His blessings on us through the glorious appearing of His Son.

So as you may feeling the dry parch time of your life,

have patience because the Lord is coming to make everything right in the end,

Remember that what is coming will be more precious than what we could veer imagine.

The harvest is worth the wait.

So how do wee wait like a farmer.

Trust God with what you cannot control.

Follow with me here, like a farmer trusting God with what you cannot control.

The farmer can’t determine when it rains and when it doesn’t.

So, James says, “The way it is with the Lord’s coming and the way it is when injustice surrounds you.

You’re walking through suffering and trouble.

Be patient, there are things you cannot control, so trust in God like the farmer.

Trust in God with what you cannot control.

You cannot control the person who victimized you.

You cannot control what others say

you cannot control what other do.

Concentrate on what you can control.

James 5:9 “9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.”

James 5:12 “12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”

In verse 9, James mentions they were grumbling against one another, they were complaining to another and there was temptation to speak in ways that did not honor God in the midst of their struggle.

And James says, “You can control that.

Remember, the Judge is standing at the door.

You want to be found faithful when He comes back.” Is this not a strong Word?

Think about this.

Maybe today you’re walking through struggle, suffering.

Are there not so many things that just feel completely out of control? Out of your control?

You can’t do anything to change it.

Whenever we walk through struggle,

there are handfuls of things that we cannot do anything about.

So the word here is, like a farmer, be patient, trust in God with what you can’t control.

Now it doesn’t mean the farmer just sits back and doesn’t plant the crop, doesn’t do the work.

No, he’s out there doing it.

He’s honoring God with what he can control and

there are things in every context we walk through of suffering or struggle or trial, there are things we can control.

We can control

our response;

we can control our thoughts and

our words and our actions.

And so when you walk … If you, brother, sister, if you are walking through struggle or suffering this morning,

I want to urge you, you will go nuts trying to control that which is out of your control.

So trust in a good God, a wise God who is in control of those things.

And then identify, clearly identify, what you can control and honor God with that.

And trust that just like the farmer, the Lord of the harvest will bring about the harvest in due time.

Trust Him, Honor Him, trust the Lord of the harvest, honor the Lord of the harvest. That’s the picture, kind of like a farmer waiting for the harvest.

If you wonder how much longer you can keep waiting,

focus on

Galatians 6:9: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Psalm 27:14: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Endure like a prophet through obedience.

James 5:10 “10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”

When we feel like giving up or giving in,

let’s look at the prophets who patiently endured and yet never stopped speaking in the name of the Lord.

Jesus tells us we are blessed when we are persecuted and then points to the example of those who went before us in Matthew 5:12: “For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The issue is not that the people in the Old Testament were so great that we should be like them.

Here’s the point – our great God used ordinary people in great ways.

We would do well to spend more time in the Old Testament according to Romans 15:4: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

We can learn from the mistakes of God’s people and also model our lives after those who suffered with patience.

Knowing biblical history is essential to our growth in holiness as stated in 1 Corinthians 10:11: “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction…”

Hebrews 6:12 urges us to be like the prophets: “So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Jeremiah the “Weeping Prophet “

I think of Jeremiah who was called the “Weeping Prophet.”

He preached faithfully for several decades only to have negative responses from the people.

He was chased down, beaten, put in stocks and thrown into a cistern to die.

He spoke out against false prophets who told people what they wanted to hear, never losing sight of what God needed them to hear.

And yet he wrote these words in Jeremiah 20:9 “9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”

Hosea - the prophet who was called to marry a harlot.

who had a wife who was unfaithful to him. She bore him a son, but the other two children were most likely due to her unfaithfulness. and each time God said to love her.

God used His relationship with Gomer to show how unfaithful God’s people were toward’s Him. But God was always loving and calling them back to him.

Ezekiel - the prophet who was called to suffer in strange ways.

think of Ezekiel - God uses Ezekiel in extreme ways to warn the people of Israel regarding their rebellion. He was sent out in order to suffer for the Lord.

He will:

Speak God’s words and Israel will not hear them (2:1-7) Eat a scroll (3:1-3) Lock himself in his house (3:25) Be bound with ropes(3:25) Become unable to speak (3:26) Lie on his left side for 390 days (4:5) Eat food cooked with dung (4:11)

And the one thing that all these prophets had in common, is that while they suffered they continued to live out God’s call on their life.

They kept obeying what God wanted them to do.

They kept following God’s revealed word and

They endured the suffering by obeying God.

While it did not necessarily make the suffering easy,

their obedience would bring blessing when the Lord came to Judge.

Their obedience drew them closer to God,

even as those on earth were distancing themselves from them.

God calls some of us to suffer greatly for His glory, and He calls all of us to suffer in small ways.

But the ultimate end to our suffering is far better than the best of what this world can bring us.

In the mind of the Apostle Paul, the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

We may suffer now,

but all that pain will pass away and what we will be left with is the overwhelming awesome glory and grace of a loving and faithful God who keeps His promises.

We will not suffer long.

The key of enduring like a prophet is obedience. Keep doing what God has called you to know matter the consequences.

Endure like Job by hoping in God’s purpose.

James 5:11 “11 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.”

A reader of the book of Job may rightly ask,

“Did Job really remain steadfast?

Didn’t he complain a lot?”

Job 7:7-11 “7 “Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. 8 The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone. 9 As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; 10 he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore. 11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

Yet, even while fully expressing his lament to God, Job did not take his wife’s advice to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9).

In the end, even though Job was humbled and faced correction (38:1–3; 40:1–5; 42:1–6),

Job 40:1-5 “1 And the Lord said to Job: 2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” 3 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 4 “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. 5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.””

he was commended by the Lord

both at the beginning (1:8)

and at the end (42:7–8) of the book.

One way that James’s readers are encouraged by the story of Job

is to see “the purpose of the Lord” (James 5:11).

The Greek for “purpose” is telos, which can also be rendered “outcome” or “goal.”

By the end of the book of Job, the patriarch admits that he has learned of the sovereignty and goodness of the Lord (Job 42:5–6),

and he also experiences restoration,

which for James’s readers anticipates God’s end-time restoration of all things,

including his people.

Even in great suffering, for which we have no explanation, we know the Lord’s story is not finished, for he will triumph.

And, James reminds us, we know that the Lord is “compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

James 5:11 “11 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.”

The whole point in the story of Job is that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

That’s the end that Job gets to.

Now it takes forty-two chapters to get there.

When you are walking through suffering,

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to remember this is not the end, this is not the end.

You’re in the valley, but it’s not the end, it’s not the end, it’s not the end.

The end, the purpose of God,

He will show Himself compassionate and merciful.

He will show Himself compassionate and merciful.

Even when darkness surrounds,

He will show Himself in the end compassion and merciful

CONCLUSION:

If I had time I would tell you of some of the men who have suffered greatly, but have patiently endured by looking to the Lord.

William Carey endured hardship and many setbacks, but he endured in the overwhelming task of taking the gospel to India’s lost millions.

Adoniram Judson

lost wives and children,

was imprisoned on false charges and tortured,

and saw very little response to the gospel in Burma, yet he persevered.

WAIT - OBEY - HOPE- READ

My main aim in this message is to get you to read your Old Testament over and over and contemplate the lives of the prophets and Job.

If you’re currently suffering, look to the prophets and look to Job as examples of patient endurance. Trust in the compassionate and merciful Lord.