James #15

“A Living Faith”
James #15
April 19
Pastor Ben Fleming

Turn in your bible to James chapter 5. A young Christian man went to an older believer to ask for prayer. "Will you please pray that I may be more patient?" he asked. The aged saint agreed. They knelt together and the man began to pray, "Lord, send this young man tribulation in the morning; send this young man tribulation in the afternoon; send this young man...." At that point the young Christian blurted out, "No, no, I didn’t ask you to pray for tribulation. I wanted you to pray for patience." "Ah," responded the wise Christian, "it’s through tribulation that we learn patience."

How many of you have a problem with a lack of patience???????????? How many of you are willing to pay the price that is required in order to gain patience???? For most of us when we recognize the need for patience, we pray a prayer that goes something like this: “Lord, give me patience, and give it to me NOW!”…….. Patience, like most Christian characteristics, is one of those character traits that grows over time rather than being given to us overnight. Paul wrote that the fruit of the spirit is love – joy – peace – patience --- and yet we wonder why we do not have and see 100% patience in our lives all of the time. A husband is not patient with his wife --- a mother is not patient with her children. You have no patience for someone in your church family.

You are not a patient driver. You simply have a hard time waiting on other people and yet you want and demand that others wait on you. In Timothy, Paul tells us that Jesus Christ displayed his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him. We know that real love is patient with the one you say you love….. and Jesus commands us to be patient with those who are weak or young in faith.

Arroyo says to his daddy when Pastor Ben is preaching – is he done yet? Cute.. How many of you look for the shortest line to get in at the grocery store or the bank? How many of you have blown up and gotten angry because of a lack of patience or not demonstrating patience? Cheryl has told me that she thinks I am patient….. but I do not think I am. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 “He (God) began a work in you and He will complete it” Okay God why are you taking so long God? In Acts chapter 1 – two angels spoke to the disciples who were watching Jesus ascend into heaven after the resurrection and they said to the disciples, “this same Jesus, who has been taken up from you to heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” If that is the case then why is Jesus taking so long to come back? Stand as we read James chapter 5.

When Jesus left this world, He promised his disciples that he would soon return. They failed to understand that “soon” did not mean the same thing to Jesus as it meant to them. To the people of Jesus’ day, “soon” meant within the next few days. Some of them quit their jobs, sold all their goods, and gathered on a hill waiting for the soon return of Jesus. I checked Google and found 220 actual predictions of the date of Christ return. Many continue to believe we are in the end times. The disciples thought the same thing. I do not know the date of Christ return, but I do know that He will return! Until that time , you must wait for His return and allow God to use the time you wait to shape you the way that He wants. That requires patience. The verses that we are going to look at this morning reminds you that you need patience when you live in this world and anticipate the Lord’s return to the earth. James gives us 5 patience pointers in verses 7 -11.1. The reward of patience is maturity and strength.
(vs.7) “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.” James uses the farmer to illustrate the necessity and reward for patience. When the farmer goes out in the early fall to plant his seeds, he knows that he is going to have a long wait before he will get to see the fruit of his labor. He begins by tilling the ground. Then he plants the seed. Then he prays for rain. He will fertilize and weed. In the climate of the Holy Land, there were two rainy seasons – the spring and the fall. That’s what it means here when it talks about the early and the latter rains. Actually, the farmer doesn’t have to wait very long to see something coming up through the ground. That will happen in just a few days. What would you think of the farmer who harvested his crop after just a few days growth? Would he have anything worth eating or selling? NO! What he wants is for that seed to sprout into a plant, and then he wants that plant to reach its full maturity. He doesn’t want a weak seedling; he wants a strong, mature crop. That takes time. He has to wait until the process is complete. If he harvests his crop too early, then he will ruin it. Farmers must be patient. Parents must be patient too. Parenting takes years of work caring for that child and instilling in them the training and encouragement that they need in order for them to mature enough to make it on their own. As parents, we want strong trees, not flowers. Flowers spring up overnight and are destroyed with the first frost. Trees take decades to grow, but when they do grow and mature they can withstand the winds of a hurricane…. Phil and Dan, I never knew when my son was as young as your boys that he would be able to withstand suffering like he did the hurricane of death in his life last year. Parenting takes lots of patience. Patience produces maturity.

I wait and wait as a pastor to see God work in the lives of His people…… I find that when His people remain in their church family and participate in the church family and work through problems------- I get to see maturity happen ---- but it takes….. lots of time. OUTLINE
1 Corinthians 2:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” OUTLINE If you remember earlier in James, in chapter 1 verse 4, James says, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” In that verse, “perfect” does not mean “sinless.” It means “mature, strong, having everything necessary to withstand the storms of life”. Patience produces strength + maturity. Patient Point #2. The motivation for patience is the return of Jesus. (vs. 8) “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near”. Again the believer is commanded to be patient. Jesus is coming back again. The word patience comes from two words in the Greek language which I found very interesting.

SLIDE Makrothumeo = macros or long and thumos = anger. A literal translation of the compound word would be long anger or long to become angry. When you find your patience slipping away what do you find yourself becoming???? Angry. Guys have you ever felt that way waiting on a women? I am sure girls have waiting on a man to take leadership. Mom’s – have you ever gotten angry because you lost your patience with your kids or husband? We also have another word in English that comes from this Greek word – it is the word “long – tempered.” Some one who is long tempered has patience. James says that as believers you should be motivated to be patient because the Lord is returning. He says the Lord’s coming is near. UP It is being in the physical presence of the Lord Jesus that we are anticipating. James says that the coming of the Lord “is at hand”. He used the word parousia for the word coming. The word parousia is best translated as arrival because it literally means His presence. This truth is found in more than 500 verses in the bible.

In I Corinthians 1:7, Paul says that we “eagerly wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed”. Why should you look forward to Jesus’ return???? Because of the reward that He is going to give to all those who have faithfully served Him. Because he is going to remove all the results of the curse on sin. There will be no more cancer, no more dying, no more crying, no more separation. Some words will have to be removed from our dictionaries . The word “goodbye” will be absent, because you will never be separated again. You will look forward to His return too because He will remove all sin. You will never be tempted ever again. You will never sin ever again. If you are a genuine believer in Jesus, His return will also mean that you will get to enjoy His presence for all eternity. All those things that seemed so unfair to you during your life here on earth will finally be set right because He is a just God. His is coming . In Matthew 24:33, Jesus said that when you see the signs of the end, watch for his coming is “near, right at the door.” One of the major signs of his coming is earthquakes. Did anyone read about the recent earthquake in Italy? Pastor Kawasaki says they have them all the time in Japan. Regardless of when Jesus is coming, I can say what Paul did in Romans 13:11 “for salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed.” However you want to look at it, Jesus’ return is closer today than it was yesterday.

Based on my belief that Jesus is coming, and that when He does come, He will set everything right the way it should be. I can wait patiently and be at peace….. As a believer you should be able to endure whatever happens in your life or in your world. You can have a stable heart. James says that we need to “establish our hearts”. We need to settle down and not let situations and events fluster us and get us all upset. Nor should we allow the sufferings that we go through to cause us to give up.

Please turn to II Cor. 4. I’ll wait – I am learning patience. page 818 “This is perhaps my favorite passage in all the Bible as it relates to me being a pastor and a messenger for the Lord. Sometimes it gets very discouraging trying to see people saved and trying to see saved people become committed. When you live for Jesus and work toward bringing others along with you, there are going to be times that all your efforts don’t produce the results that you intended. It is in those times that it is so tempting to quit – to lose your patience and just give up. To wash your hands of people. Paul faced times like that, times when he loved on people and they responded with anger, times when he taught people, and they responded by ignoring him, times when he sacrificed for people, and they turned and hurt him and left…… How did he deal with that. Look at verses 1, 8-10, 13-14, and 16-18 of II Cor. 4. Follow along with me as I read some of chapter 4 and see if you cannot see why we must be motivated to be patient. Patience Point #3

3. The fruit of patience is contentment and acceptance. (vs.9) “Do not grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged, the judge is standing at the door.” Blaming others instead of facing up to our own sin and impatience leaves us open to the judgment of God. It is easy to find fault in others. It is easy to grumble and complain. When you are undergoing a trial or a suffering – it is so easy to be a mouthy – whining - complainer. To grumble does not mean that you have to say something --- it even means even to groan within oneself. Have you done that and no word has come out of your mouth? I have. Have you ever groaned about something or someone in your church. Sure you have. The music was too loud – why does he talk so long? Who does he think he is speaking to me like that? ?? The fruit of patience is contentment and acceptance.

Story: When I think of contentment and acceptance I think of my mom. I just got off the phone this past week with my brother Pat. He told me about taking our mom and dad out to dinner. My dad grumbled because he had to wait 15 min to be seated and the entire time my mom did not complain or grip or say anything negative – she just got into the car in pain – out of the car in pain and enjoyed the meal at the restaurant and Pat and I both said to each other – we cannot remember our mother grumbling and complaining. My mom is a very patient woman.

Why must we not groan and grumble as believers? Look what James says. “You will be judged.” Not by someone else but by God. Believer….Stop complaining --- stop being a groaning grumbler – grow in the fruit of patience. God does judge His children. Look on your outline at the words of Paul

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” So – At the judgment seat God is going to judge how patient I was with my wife. He is going to judge how patient I was with my children. God is going to judge how patient I was as a pastor with His people. God is going to judge how patient I was when I went through trials and suffering….. I thought about this in my own life at this point and found that when I have tasted suffering there was deep patience in me but the minute my rights – my time – my opinion or desires were tested outside of suffering – I can easily begin to grumble – loose my contentment and demonstrate impatience especially with those I should be the most patient with.

How about you? Are you a grumbler. Are you a complainer and a whiner? You might not think so but what do others think about you? Maybe you are just so used to doing it and rationalize it. Ask God to open your eyes and convict you of this sin. You will never bear the fruit of patience if you do not crucify grumbling in your life. Grumblers are not nice people to be around and they themselves will taste and experience little joy. Patience Pointer #4

4. Remember our examples of patient endurance during suffering. (vs. 10 -11a) “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.”

James says to believers – if you think you are going to have a hard time being patient when you suffer think about those who have gone before you. He specifically reminds them of Job. James says, “look at the examples of other believers when you face suffering.” I do not know of anyone in this room who has faced physical suffering because of their faith. Some are mocked. James is telling these believers to remember David – he was hunted by Saul. Remember Elijah who faced hostility from King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. Remember Hosea who endured a heartbreaking marriage and John the Baptist who was beheaded for his testimony of God’s truth. To many of us – suffering for our faith is really foreign to us. We really do not think anyone suffers because they are a Christian today. Listen to this from the Voice of the Martrys --- last weeks news………

Iran – Christian Hossein Karimi released after 27 Days in Prison. In Pakistan, Sandul Bibi and Her father remain in prison for their faith in Jesus Christ in spite of 4 appearances in court. In Turkey – the Turkey Bible Society Bookstore in the city of Adana was vandalized by Muslim extremists for the second time in a week. In the country where we buy so much and owe so much money to – China. Christian Shuang has just been released after spending two years in prison for publically preaching the Word of God. The list goes on. Maybe verse 10 does not apply to us Christians in America? I say that tongue and cheek because you know it does. The chapter of faith is found in the book of Hebrews #11. I put some of it on your outline:

Hebrews 11:36 - 39 (ESV) “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated – of whom the world was not worthy….. though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised…”

Application: When the next time you feel impatient or you just feel like giving up – turn to Hebrews 11 and read it through and ask God to make you like those believers. Patience pointer #5

5. Remember the character of the Lord. (vs. 11b) “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” James closes this section by reminding us when we are going through a trial or we suffer – as a believer you can endure it patiently because of God’s character. Have you ever been in a situation where you questioned whether God really cared about you? I have. James says remember that God is full of compassion and is merciful. The translation of James’s word as “full of compassion” is literally “many boweled” --- a Jewish idiom which would have simply meant that God has an enormous capacity for compassion. So --- when you are waiting. You are waiting on God to do something – to bring your through – to provide --- to heal ---- to walk with you through your suffering and pain – you can endure patiently because Christ is coming back ---- you can endure patiently because God will judge the grumbler – you can endure patiently because you know other believers have done the same thing and you can endure patiently because of God’s great mercy. Whatever challenge you are facing --- whatever circumstance you are going through that demands patience from you – remember the words of the Psalmist 30:5 “ For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.”

Let us pray: