We'll continue our journey through
James. Last week we considered verses 7 and 8 in James chapter
5, where we saw that we are exhorted to look and wait for the second
coming of Christ. And there's the word therefore
in verse 7. Brother Zane wrote me, and I
haven't wrote him back yet, but I'm going to give him the answer
right now through the study here. He was asking about the word
therefore. in verse 7 and will therefore connects us to the
preceding verses of course so what James is going to say following
that has to do with those who are suffering persecution at
the hands of those who are mentioned in verses 1 to 6 so we will see
how the believer is supposed to react today to being defrauded
going through sufferings and afflictions. Actually, I named
the message Suffering, Affliction, and Patience. Suffering, Affliction,
and Patience. And there's those who are suffering
persecution for their faith. There's those who are suffering
through various afflictions of health. There's those who are
actually suffering afflictions for their faith as well, too. As believers, we go through different
things in our lives. After the Lord saves us, we all
are afflicted with things, and we know that those things come,
always remember that afflictions and those things come by the
providence of God, okay? They're for God's glory, and
they're for our good, even though we cannot see it in the midst
of the storm. We can't see the good that's
being done for us in the midst of the storm, or the trial, or
the persecution. But we are to bear patiently
under those sufferings. I know a young man who, after
the Lord saved him, he would have dinner with his mom and
dad, and they had a border that stayed with them. And he professed
to be a Christian. And his dad and the boarder would
just persecute him for his faith every time they got together
for dinner. It was an opportunity for the
dad to tear him apart for what he believed, and the boarder
would jump in and do the same thing. But the mom was sitting
there, and the young man didn't say anything, just bore it. And
that was a witness to his mom. See, you never know, you never
know. But it strengthened his faith, strengthened his faith. And it was hard, though. Could
you imagine what it'd be like to have your own dad come at
you like that, and a stranger? It would be hard. So with that
in mind, let us look to verses seven to eleven and what's the
one thing we can learn from a illustration like that well the thing we can
learn is to keep our eyes upon christ right to keep our eyes
upon christ in him alone no matter what happens whether we're being
persecuted for our faith whether we're suffering affliction health-wise
or anything keep our eyes upon christ just keep looking to him
he's the only sure thing and i'm uh... i'll guarantee you
When the affliction is done, or the suffering is done, it'll
be for your good and for God's glory. I've experienced that.
It is, it is. So let's look at verses 7 to
11. Scripture says, be patient therefore,
that's long-suffering in the Greek. Brethren, unto the coming
of the Lord. So be patient therefore is a
result of They're being persecuted in verses one to six, and then
now the believers are supposed to be patient, patient under
that suffering. Under the coming of the Lord,
so again, he focuses their mind right away on that which is important,
on Christ. Behold, the husband-man waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be also
patient, see, now remember, that the book of James has told us
in the first chapter to count it all joy when you suffer diverse
temptations, which is actually trials in the Greek. So we see
a theme here, don't we? And we know patience, patience
which is long-suffering in the Greek. Well, long-suffering is
a fruit of the spirit. So he works that in us through
trials and tribulations, beloved. He strengthens us, strengthens
our faith, too. So be also patient. Establish your heart. So set
your heart firmly for Christ. Just set your heart firmly. Firmly. Just look to him. For the coming
of the Lord draweth nigh. It's closer today than it was
yesterday. That's all we know, right? Let's
not get into speculation and you've got people out there looking
at things going on in the world. No, today we're even closer to
the coming of the Lord. And I'm still looking for his
coming. Now whether it's in my lifetime or not, I'm still gonna
look. I'm still gonna wait. But we're closer today than we
were yesterday to his coming. Oh my, it's wonderful. Grudge
not, here's our text, verses nine to 11, grudge not one against
another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge
standeth before the door. Take my brethren, the prophets,
who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering,
affliction, and of patience, which is, again, a long suffering.
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. So again, James
is writing to those who have been mistreated and defrauded
by those spoken of in verses one to six, who are persecuting
the brethren even more furiously by the fact that the persecution
seems to fall on deaf ears. The believers aren't reacting
to it. See, this is the difference with us in the spirit and us
in the flesh. How do we know when we're in
the spirit and the flesh? Well, here's a good one for us to examine
our hearts with. How do we react when persecution
comes our way? Do we get our cackles up? I'm
going to give it right back to them. Or do we just receive it? Look to the Lord. Trust in the
Lord. One thing I've noticed, too,
a lot of times when people are persecuting us for our faith,
when we say what we believe to people, they're reacting They're
reacting, beloved, to that which is against their flesh. Like
when you talk about election, God choosing people, right away
their flesh goes, no, that's not fair. Right? But we know as believers we don't
want fair, right? So at that time, just give them
a scripture and let them chew on it. Chosen him before the
foundation of the world. Ephesians 1, 4. There's a beautiful
verse in Thessalonians 2 you can give them in the first chapter
about God's election. So just give them, I've learned
this, trust me, I've learned this because I've reacted the
one way and just got into bitter arguments and fights with people
and it doesn't do nothing. It doesn't do anything, it just
makes bad feelings. So I just give them scripture now. And
I just let it sit there. But I always answer them back
with scripture, because I don't want to answer them back with
something from me, because it's not going to go nowhere. Right? But if you give them a scripture
to ponder and think about, chances are they're going to
go home and think about that. And they may even go home and
look it up, which is even more of a blessing, right? So we're just to patiently Think
of the prophets, they prophesied the Messiah and they suffered
persecution, didn't they? But they just kept prophesying
about the Messiah, didn't they? Right? That's how we are to be. Behold, we count them happy,
which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job. You've
seen the end of the Lord, and that the Lord is very pitiful
and of tender mercy. So James, again, is writing to
those who have been abused verbally, persecuted for what they believe,
probably taken advantage of for what they believe, and the tormentors
are even more angry because they weren't resisted. So James, what
does James do then? He sets before them the hope
of our Lord's coming. He sets that right before him.
Notice that. Twice he mentions about the Lord coming back. He
doesn't say, go and get them and give it to them both barrels,
does he? No. He just says, the Lord's
coming back. Keep your eyes on the Lord. He's
coming back. He's coming back. My. And pray for them. Pray that
the Holy Spirit would save them. Pray that they'd be regenerated.
Pray that they'd be granted faith to believe. And always keep praying
until they don't breathe anymore, because there's always hope until
they breathe their last breath. Always hope. We don't know who
God's people are. We don't know who the sheep of
God are. So just keep praying for them. So James sets on their
mind the Lord our righteousness, the King of kings and the Lord
of lords, to give them comfort through the situation that they're
going through. They're being afflicted. They're being persecuted for
their faith. They're being afflicted by various
things that are going on in their lives. And we can even look, sister, we
were talking about the times we're in now. We're going through
something that we've never experienced before. Now, people in 1918 and
1917, when the Spanish flu was going through, they experienced
that. We are now experiencing something globally, and hopefully
we're coming out of it. But we're experiencing something
globally that generations never experienced. And there's various
things going on, and we are alarmed at some things, but we know the
Lord's in control, don't we? We just gotta keep looking to
Him. Gotta just keep looking to the King. And patiently wait. And so here's James, patiently
waiting, or setting before them the King of Kings and the Lord
of Lords. And that comforts our hearts, doesn't it? Because I'll
tell you what, when I think about the Lord coming back, and wrapping it all up, I sure
get excited. Takes my mind off the things
of the world real fast. Just when I think about going
home to be with the Lord. Charlie was mentioning, Brother
Charlie was mentioning this morning, just the joy of being in heaven. And it won't be long. Our life
is like a vapor, we're here today and gone tomorrow. It won't be
long, we'll be in the presence of the Lord, beloved. My, to
never suffer anymore. And look at verse eight, it says
here, be ye patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of
the Lord draweth nigh. So again, James exhorts the believer to
be patient, which is long-suffering in the Greek, And this flies
in the face of our flesh, doesn't it? It totally flies in the face
of our flesh. We can see some of the brethren
going, oh, man, because we'd say the same thing, right? Oh, man, that's tough. It's the
opposite of what our flesh desires. But this ties into what James
has been teaching. Look at James chapter 3. Turn
there, if you would, quick, just to James chapter 3. patience through suffering, long
suffering through suffering. And one thing he did in chapter
three, and again, this is all by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God, he wrote about us brattling our tongue, right, and how no
man or woman can brattle the tongue. It's the hardest thing
to do. We all just say amen to that, right? Every one of us. Oh my. Look at what it says in
James chapter three. Look at verses five to eight.
So again, Again, this all ties into the teaching that James
has been building upon that the whole time, right, for us. Look
at verses five to eight in James chapter three. Even so, the tongue
is a little member and boasts great things. Behold, how great
a matter a little fire kindleth. In the tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members, that it defieth
the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature. and
is set on fire of hell. But the tongue can no man tame."
Look at that. There's only one who tamed his
tongue, and he is a perfect man. The King of kings and the Lord
of lords. The God-man. He's the only one. Every son and daughter of Adam,
we got trouble with our tongue, don't we? Oh my, we do. Oh my. You ever said something
and wish... I wish I had not said that. How many times? We'd be millionaires if somebody
gave us a nickel for every time we said that, right? Oh, I wish
I hadn't said that. See, no man can tame the tongue.
It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. So with the tongue,
man can bless God, and with the tongue, man can curse God. My,
oh my. Isn't it amazing when God takes
a cursing tongue and turns it into a tongue that praises? That's
a miracle of grace, beloved. That's a miracle of grace. So
our natural reaction is to strike out. So let's look at verse nine,
then, with that in our mind. We see that we're being exhorted
to be long-suffering, again, which is free to the Holy Spirit
of God. And we see some examples being brought forth before us
of how we are to react when we're persecuted and suffering. Look
at verse nine. Grudge not one against another. Brethren, lest
you be condemned, behold, the judge standeth before the door. The word grudge here means to
sigh, to groan, to murmur. Have you ever sighed in heaviness?
Either when someone's saying something to you and it's just
like, oh my, right? Or you're being persecuted or
suffering an affliction and you're like, oh my. Lord, just make
it stop, right? You ever experience that? I have,
it's just, right? And then to groan, to murmur. Well, we're all guilty of murmuring,
aren't we? My. So we're not to complain,
we see here, against one another on account of another's riches
or gifts or prosperity, whether it be a temporal gift or a spiritual
gift. We're not to be jealous of one
another. We're not to be envious of one another. We saw that earlier
in this epistle. And you know a man can receive
nothing. A man or woman can receive nothing except from the Lord.
Right? So that's the great equalizer,
right? So we're not to envy one another, or secretly complain
about one another, or condemn one another. Let us always be
aware that the judge of all things hears everything. He hears it all. every single
word we say, even the intents of our heart. Listen to this
in 1 Samuel 16, 7, The Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his
countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have
refused him. For the Lord seeth not as a man
seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance. That's what we look at, the outward appearance. But
the Lord, and that's Jehovah in the text, looketh on the heart.
He sees the heart. We see the outward appearance.
You ever had people in your life who professed to be Christians
and then they just walked away? See, we look on the outward appearance,
don't we? But God looks on the heart, doesn't
he? He looks on the heart, mine. And listen to this, I pulled
this out of the Greek, I have a Greek literal Bible, which
I love to look at with the studies of the New Testament epistles.
Listen to what it says here in James 5, 9 in the Greek literal
Bible. Do not grumble against one another,
brothers, so that you may not be condemned. Behold, the judge
is standing before the doors. So we're not to groan against
each other. And this is an exhortation for
us to bridle our tongue, right? To bridle our tongue. So we're
not to be groaning or begrudging during suffering and afflictions.
Because that's the opposite of patience, right? See, but that's
something we can't do on our own, right? How do we know that?
Well, because patience is long-suffering in the Greek, and long-suffering
is the fruit of the spirit. So don't be too hard on yourself.
The Lord's working, He's conforming us to the image of Christ, beloved.
Isn't that amazing? As we go through these things,
He's making us more long-suffering. We don't see it, do we? We look
at ourselves and go, I'm not very long-suffering! But I'm
telling you, He's working in us. Because that's what the scripture
declares. Oh, and we're not to set ourselves
up as a judge of anyone, because when we look at our own state,
we won't be judging anyone, right? Even after the Lord saved us.
Oh, wretched man that I am, Brother Paul wrote, and every one of
us can say that, right? Oh my. But we look to the judge
of all the earth. we look to the righteous one.
And he's standing at the door. Again, he sees everything, and
nothing gets by him, nothing. So the consequence of such an
attitude, though, of grumbling against one another, and again,
he's writing to the church, so he's writing to believers, grumbling
against each other, right? The consequence is condemnation.
Now, we know that for the believer, there's no condemnation, like
eternal condemnation. We know there's no, so what does
this condemnation refer to? Take it back to the lesson about
the tongue. We were instructed in the proper and improper use
of the tongue in chapter three. To grieve or groan or begrudge
our persecutors reveals self-righteousness. See, the mirror comes right back
on us. It reveals self-righteousness. Isn't it amazing how the Holy
Spirit, I'm putting this together and I'm just, I got my head on
the table. My goodness. But it reveals self-righteousness. And again, when somebody persecutes
us, what's the first thing? Self-defense, right? Boom. Right? What did Adam and Eve
say? Adam said, it's the woman you
gave me. And Eve said, it's the snake. Right? That's us naturally, right? That's us. That's who we are. And that's our self-righteousness,
beloved. But you know, the Lord's working
that, and he's taking that away from us, isn't he? Slowly, and
he's working in us, long-suffering and patience. Praise be to God
it's not a work that we can do, because we'd mess up. I'd be
in trouble. I'll be honest with you. No,
it's a work of the Spirit. See, religion says you got to
get more like this. You got to, well, these trials and situations,
they're working in us. The Holy Spirit is, again, making
us stones made ready for glory. My. Job said this, if I justify
myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. That's what Job said. If I try to justify myself, my
own mouth's going to condemn me. I say I'm perfect it shall
prove me perverse and the term their judge at the door refers
to the coming of Christ and relates back to the fact that we should
act in a manner as Christian men and women we're looking for
the return of Christ we're waiting for the return of Christ he's
coming back we know that we don't know the hour of the day don't
even speculate No, don't even bother speculating. Don't listen
to people out there speculating. It'll get you all tied up in
knots. Don't even listen to those folks
say, well, this and that's happening. This and that's happening. My
king is on the throne. Now, be aware of circumstances
that are happening, of course. Right? circumstances that affect
our lives. I'm not saying put our head in
the sand like an ostrich. I'm not saying that. But I'm
saying, you know, I can go on YouTube and look up these prophecy
guys, and there's a thousand and one little videos on there
that are just absolutely nothing. They're garbage. And all they
do is stir people up. That's all they do. My oh my,
it's horrible. Don't just stay away from that
stuff. The Lord's coming. That's good enough for us, right?
He's coming. Next, James will give us an illustration
again. Remember, this is all by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God. Here, give us an illustration
of long-suffering, under-suffering, and affliction by pointing us
to the prophets of the Old Testament. Look what he says here in verse
10. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of
the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction, and patience. Well,
James here tells us to look upon the prophets. They suffered,
didn't they? They suffered for proclaiming
the word of the Lord. They did. But they enjoyed God's
favor, didn't they? Under affliction. Under persecution. They suffered much. They were
ridiculed, mocked, hated of men, even put to death. All for proclaiming the truth
about man's natural state and proclaiming that salvation is
of the Lord. And for that they suffered. They also proclaimed
the truth about the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
who they proclaimed. They proclaimed him. Because
we know that because the Lord said the law and the prophets
testify of him. My. And their afflictions, the
prophets' afflictions and trials were great. Yet they were very
patient through them all. Long suffering. But they were
just like us. Don't look at these men as superheroes. They're men of like passions
like we are. Elijah, I'm the only one left!
No, you're not, Elijah. No, I got 5,000 that haven't
bowed the knee to Baal. Right, but isn't that our only,
wouldn't that be our reaction, too? I'm not making fun of Elijah,
because it'd be our reaction, too. Totally would be. See, God has things going on
we don't even know about. And that's what he was informing
Elijah there. I'm in control. 5,000 men are
with you who have not bowed their knee to Baal. Could you imagine
how that would encourage him? Oh, he'd be greatly uplifted,
wouldn't he? My. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 11. We're looking at the Hall of
Faith here quickly. And it speaks about the prophets and what they
went through a little bit. What they went through. Hebrews
chapter 11 in the Hall of Faith, it says in verses 32 to 40, And what shall I say? For the
time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson,
and of Japheth, and of David also, and Samuel, and of the
prophets. Verse 33. Who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promise, stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, there we are,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to fight the enemies of the aliens,
women received their dead raised to life again, and others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better
resurrection. So their hope was in Christ. And others had a trial
of cruel mockings and scourging, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment,
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were cut in half,
were tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about
in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,
of whom the world was not worthy. The world wasn't worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth. These,
all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise. God having provided some better thing for us, that
they without us should not be made perfect my oh my look at
those things those those prophets suffered so James is pointing
us to them you know the world's not worthy of God's people all
the New Testament you ever think that world's not worthy of God's
people isn't that amazing it's incredible So our lives are indiscriminately
subject to troubles and adversities, right? They come our way. Every
believer. Every believer has them. Troubles
and adversities. And our text, which James here
brings forth, will help when times of misery and affliction
come our way. Because they will. They will. To look to the prophets. Look
at what they endured. What was their end? Their glory. What will be our end as believers?
We'll be in glory. Oh my. Oh, so James is bringing them
forth. Remember this too. Remember we
see nothing of the sun above in a cloudy sky. So when it's
a cloudy day, we don't see the sun, do we? But it's still there,
isn't it? It's still shining. It's just
obscured by the clouds. But it's still shining, beloved.
Well, during our times of trials and sufferings, and sometimes when we feel, Lord,
you're so far away from me, He's not. He's still there. The sun, S-O-N, is still shining. He's
right there. He says, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. He's right there. He may be obscured by the clouds
of what we're going through and the trials and afflictions, but
beloved, He's right by your side. He's right by your side. He'll
never leave us nor forsake us. He's just obscured by the affliction
or suffering that we're enduring. So James lays before us the suffering
of the prophets. And remember, they were kept
by the power of God. They didn't keep themselves.
They were kept by the power of God, just like we are. We're
kept by the power of God. And they endured long suffering
and afflictions, just as we do. And they endured those by the
grace and the mercy of God. He took care of them, just like
he takes care of his people all the time. Remember, he was a
cloud and a pillar of fire. He never left the Israelites.
That's a picture of how he'll never leave his church. Never,
never, ever, ever. Oh, it's so comforting. And where
are the prophets now? Well, they're with the Lord,
aren't they? They're with the Lord. They're rejoicing in his
presence right now. Their suffering was for a while,
but now joy, and no more suffering. It's wonderful, absolutely wonderful. And they will spend eternity
with our great God, all for His glory. Now take a look at verse
10. Take my brethren again, the prophets
who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering,
affliction, and patience. They were sent by God to proclaim
the Messiah. to proclaim the coming of the
Lord. And he is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, whose
God incarnated in the flesh. And because of that, they suffered
afflictions. They suffered in trials and afflictions. Now let's read verse 11. Behold,
we count them happy which endure. You 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. So we look back at the Old Testament
saints, we look back at the prophets, and we see their courage, don't
we? We see their faith. We see their long-suffering,
and we count them blessed. Because now they're with the
Lord. They're not suffering anymore.
They're not being afflicted anymore. They're blessed in Christ. And
they will be eternally blessed in Christ. Because they're in
the presence of the Lord where they'll be there forever now.
And so when our lives end, we won't have any more affliction.
We won't have any more suffering. We'll be in the presence of the
Lord forever. And they felt honored to be counted worthy to suffer
for Christ's sake. And now they're glorified with
him. Now, this verse in verse 11, notice where it says endure
there. I want to read again the Greek literal Bible for us. Listen to this. This is amazing.
Behold, we count blessed those having preserved. Preserved? Well, then I looked up endure
in the Greek, and it means preserved. Now, that changes the whole thought
of it, right? Because endure is more, we think, well, that's
something we have to do. You see how men can take scriptures?
I've seen guys take scriptures like that, like the endure, and
say, well, if you don't endure to the end, then you're cast
away. And they use it as works-based.
But this says we're preserved. The Greek word actually means
preserved. That's not something we do, is
it? Oh my! So I'm going to read the
whole thing. Behold, we count blessed those
having preserved. You have heard of the perseverance
of Job, and you have seen the outcome from the Lord, that the
Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. Oh my. Who preserved the saints
of old? They didn't preserve themselves.
Who preserved them? Who preserves the saints today?
Who preserves us? Who will preserve the saints
in the future that come after us if the Lord tarries and is
coming? Who will preserve them? The Lord Almighty. God Almighty,
beloved. He's the only one who keeps us
in the way. He's the only one who keeps us in the way. So marvel
at this fact that God preserves his people to the end. Now, we
can suffer doubt, we can lose our insurance. It doesn't change
the fact of what's being stated here. Behold, we count blessed
those having preserved. Preserved by God, beloved. And
Peter writes that we're kept by the power of God. So that
all ties in, doesn't it? See, it's not of works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. He
saved us. So think of this too, more of
the fact that it's God who preserves us, it's God who calls us home
to glory. It's all by His mighty power and all we can say is praise
His mighty name, right? That's what we say. And notice
here, too, also how the Holy Spirit of God has James bring
forth the suffering of Job. Because remember, he's the true
author. So he's having James bring forth the suffering of
Job. Well, we know Job suffered a lot. Out of all the Bible characters
other than Christ, he suffered tremendously. And so the Holy
Spirit brings forth here the suffering of Job, Think of this, he was assaulted
by Satan. He had these so-called comforters, which were miserable
comforters. These so-called friends that
tried to supposedly help him, but all they did was add to his
sufferings. That's all they did. They were miserable comforters.
They weren't friends at all. My, you ever had a friend like
that? Yeah, boy, oh boy. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. So they brought about more suffering
for Job. They added to his sufferings,
and they slandered God. But he endured it, didn't he?
He endured it, he suffered. In body and in mind, think at
the loss of his health. He lost his health, he lost his
family. His wife told him to curse God
and die. My, oh my. after all the blessings
they had received in their lives, not just what he had gained,
because it doesn't, again, rich or poor, we're rich in Christ,
aren't we? But he was definitely blessed with wealth and with
lots of cattle. They were all gone just like
that. And he said, the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Oh my gosh. My, that's what, only a
man filled with the Holy Spirit can say that. I'll tell you what. Oh my. And in the end, in the
end, he was blessed even more. My
oh my. So let us think upon this fact
that the theme of this book is joy during sufferings and trials.
May God give us grace. Each of us grace. to endure the
trials in our lives and endure the sufferings in our lives. May He give us that, because
we don't have it naturally. May He give it to us in our time
of need.