Let us turn to God's Word again,
there in the epistle of James in chapter 5, and I'll read verses
7, 8 and 9. James chapter 5, 7, 8 and 9. 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. Be ye
also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the
Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another,
brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before
the door Last Lord's Day we were considering something of that
heavenly wisdom spoken of at the end of chapter 3, the wisdom
from above, which James says is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality and without hypocrisy. And as we consider that wisdom
which centers in the Lord Jesus Christ, so we also consider the
need for us to be those who would pray for such wisdom. There in
the opening chapter, in verse 5, if any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and braideth
not. And it shall be given him, but
let him ask in faith, says the Apostle, nothing wavering. So
we thought of the wisdom that we so much need. We need to be
made wise, in many ways, wise with regards to our understanding
of the providences of God, wise with regards to God's dealings
when He comes in the way of chastenings and correction. Above all things
we need to be made wise unto salvation. We need that fear
of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Well, this morning
I want to try to say something with regards to this patience
that is spoken of, this Christian patience or Christian long-suffering
that we read in these three verses that we've just read here in
chapter 5, verses 7, 8 and 9. But really to concentrate, as
it were, for the text on the opening sentence of that the
seventh verse, be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the
Lord. And interestingly you will observe
that the word patient, again in the margin, you may have the
same as I have here in the pulpit Bible, it says long patient,
or suffer with long patience. This Patience, then, is that
that is associated with long suffering and forbearing. But
before we come to consider the text more particularly, let me
just remark again, as usual, on the setting, on the context
in which our verse is set. He speaks of those wicked, rich
men that would abuse the children of God-believers, and he addresses
these rich men in the first six verses of the chapter go to now
ye rich men he says weep and howl for your miseries that shall
come upon you verse five you have lived in pleasure on the
earth and been wanton you have nourished your heart as in the
day of slaughter you have condemned and killed the just and he does
not resist you how he speaks Solemn words, stern words to
these who were in a situation where they had great power and
they abused others and they abused the poor people of God. The believer is to have no inclination
to in any way avenge himself. That's not the way of the people
of God. Remember the language that we have in In Romans chapter
12 and verse 19, dearly beloved, says the Apostle Paul, avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written,
I will repay, says the Lord. Now the believer is to leave
his cause, his interests, simply and solely in the hands of God. And so here At the end of verse
6, with regards to those who are being so abused, he says
that the godly man, the believer, he does not resist you. He doesn't
resist because he doesn't have the strength or the power or
the ability to resist in any sense. But he has that grace,
or he looks for that grace where God will enable him to forbear
And that's what we have then there at the beginning of verse
7. Be patient, be forbearing therefore brethren unto the coming
of the Lord. And as I said, this is the matter,
the subject that I want to try to take up for a while this morning. Christian patience or Christian
long-suffering. And we see how that Spirit is
encouraged here in the Word of God. In verses 7, 8 and 9, these
three verses that we read, we see a threefold reference, really,
to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the beginning of verse
7 he says, Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of
the Lords. And then at the end of verse
8 he says, The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. And then at the end of verse
9 he says, Behold, the judge standeth before the Lord. There is clearly a sort of progression
here with regards to the fact that the Lord is coming. His
coming might be slow, but His coming is sure and steady. And
we see how it goes on from one verse to the other. He is coming. There in verse 7, He draweth
nigh. in verse 8 and then in verse
9 he is standing before the door and this is the the comfort of
the of the people of God that the Lord will indeed come and
he will come of course in that time that has clearly and evidently
been appointed by the Lord God himself. Oh there is this blessed
progression then that we're to observe and sometimes when the
Lord comes in this life he might come even in the way of judgment
there are those judgments that are appointed for God's children
even in the day of grace when he comes in the way of reproof
or of correction and we see that very clearly in the way in which
the Lord addresses himself to those churches in the opening
chapters of the book of the Revelation. The book is addressed, of course,
to the seven churches which are in Asia. There are seven churches
there in Asia Minor. And look at what the Lord says,
for example, to the church there at Ephesus. In chapter 2 of Revelation,
verse 4, Nevertheless, He says, I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from
whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else
I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick
out of his place, except thou repent." The Lord takes account
of their disorder, their sin, and He will come, and He will
deal with them, and He will even remove their candlestick. There
will no more be such a faithful church situated in that city
of Ephesus. Now God's people have to continually
then look to his word and seek to walk in obedience to all his
holy commandments or the Lord will come. And he will come even
in the day of grace in that way of judgment. But then at the
end of the third chapter we have that letter to the church of
the Laodiceans. And what does the Lord say? Revelation
3.20, Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If any man hear
my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him,
and he with me. And that's a verse that is often
abused really in preaching. Many take it as a verse that
they use in an evangelistic situation. and they suggest that there is
the Lord Jesus Christ standing at the door of the sinner's heart
waiting for admission. I think in terms of that painting,
that famous painting by the pre-Raphaelite artist Holman Hunt, the figure
of Christ as he was standing at a door knocking and there's
no handle on the door and the Arminian preacher, of course,
says, well, the sinner has the handle on the inside, he has
to open the door, and he has to admit the Lord, he has to
invite Christ into his heart. That's how that verse is so often
preached. But really, it is speaking of
the Lord's coming in judgment, just as we saw there with the
church at Ephesus. The Lord is rebuking that church
at Laodicea. because of their lukewarmness
and he says behold I stand at the door and knock and that's
what we have here you see in verse 9 the judge standing before
the door standing before the door yes if that church at Laodicea
will but hear the Lord's word of reproof And if they will receive
Him, then He will come and He will sup with them. There will
be restoration. There will again be communion.
If the Lord comes in this life, and He does come time and again
to His people, to His churches in that way, but if there is
that real, genuine repentance, why then the corrections and
the reproofs of the Lord will prove to be so profitable? We
know that no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous,
but grievous, but the Apostle says, nevertheless, afterward,
it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who
exercise thereby. Or there's a nevertheless, there's
an afterward. But the Lord does come at times
in the way of judgment, even in this life, even in the day
of grace. But what we have here, in the
passage before us this morning, in these three verses, is more
especially a reference to that great day of judgment, the end
of time, when the day of grace will be closed and another day
will dawn in which the Lord is going to judge men. and then
all matters will be put right. And you will be seeing to the
child of God that that life of faith that they've lived is not
in vain. And these that the apostle is
rebuking, these rich men, no wonder they're bidden to weep
and howl, because God himself takes account of what they're
doing and God himself is going to judge them in that great day. and these who have received such
cruel treatment these labourers who have reaped and yet received
no reward to being defrauded and they cry unto God and their
cry has entered into the ears we are told of the Lord of Sabaoth
and they will be brought to see it in that all that they have
endured has never been in vain Or doesn't James say the same
there in chapter 1 verse 12? Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of
life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Our believers are to be encouraged
then in the midst of all that they have to endure in this life
or the cruelty of others even the Lord's dealings in the way
of reproof and correction and chastening, but all will be profitable. And then it will be seen that
the prosperity of the wicked was only for a moment. They prospered simply for a little
while in this life. And the psalmists, the psalmists
were certainly mindful of these things. The language that we
have there In the 37th Psalm, in Psalm 37 and verse 35, what
does the Psalmist say? I have seen the wicked in great
power, and spreading himself like a green bait, yet he passed
away. And lo, he was not. Yea, I sought
him, but he could not be found. his prosperity, his riches, these
things are but for a little while. And so here, with regards to
the context, these rich men abusing their wealth and their power
and despising the godly, oh, they only triumph for a little
while. We know from the words of the
Lord Jesus that God himself shall yet avenge his iniquity. that
cry day and night unto him, though he bear long wisdom. For nevertheless, says Christ,
when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth.
How God's people have to persevere in the way of faith, in the face
of all their troubles and all their trials. But then again
think of the assurance and the encouragement that we find in
the language of Peter there in his second epistle. In 2 Peter
3 and verse 9, He assures us the Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to usward. Or the Lord Himself is long-suffering
towards His people, not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. But, He says, the day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up." There is a day coming, the
Day of Judgment, and the Judge is standing at the door. And
that day will come. It must come because the Lord
Himself has ordained it. But again, isn't this another
of those passages that are so often abused by free will and
Arminian preachers they use those words at the end of verse 9 in
that third chapter of 2nd Peter not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance and they tell us that the Lord
God really He wants to save everybody He's not willing that anybody
should perish He wants them all to be brought to repentance.
And it's as if God desires a thing, and God wills a thing, and yet
God cannot accomplish that thing, because man's will stands in
his way. But when we look at that verse
more carefully, as we should always examine the Word of God,
to whom is God said to be long-suffering? It's to us, Ward. The Lord is
not slack concerning His promise, as some men can slackness, but
is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish.
The any refers to the usward, and who are the usward? Those
to whom the epistle is addressed. To them that have obtained like
precious faith with us, He says, through the righteousness of
God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ and the second epistle is a general epistle
as is the first epistle of Peter so really the epistles are being
addressed to the same people and we see it quite clearly there
in the opening words of the first epistle of Peter he writes to
those strangers who are scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father. And so we clearly see who it is that is being referred
to at the end of that second epistle. God's promise. All God's promise
is for His people. God is not slack concerning His
promises. Some men count slackness, but
He is long-suffering to us all. not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance and then he goes on to speak
of that day of the Lord that great day of judgments that he's
spoken of here all God's long-suffering it's the same word it's exactly
the same word that we have in these verses here in our text
at the beginning of verse 7 be patient therefore brethren unto
the coming of the Lord. Be long-suffering unto the coming
of the Lord. We have to endure, we have to
persevere in the face of all those difficulties, all those
tribulations, all those troubles that so often stand in the way.
But there's encouragement here in the Word of God because the
day of the Lord shall come. It is that that God himself has
appointed and ordained. But how are believers to become
established in the patience that is being spoken of here, in this
world of exhortation? Be patient. How can we become
established in this grace of patience, this grace of long-suffering
well there is a sense I suppose in which we have to acknowledge
that the believer is already established is established certainly
in the eternal purpose of God because the Lord knoweth them
that are his and has he not in his eternal purpose committed
that people whom he has chosen into the hands of His only begotten
Son. And there they are secure, there
they are preserved in Jesus Christ, before ever they are caught.
Think of the language that we have at the beginning of the
epistle of Jude, where we see the three persons of the Godhead
quite clearly, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. But how striking
is the language that that apostle uses in that short epistle who
does he address himself to? well he says you the servant of Jesus Christ
the brother of James to them that are sanctified by God the
Father, there's God the Father, He has sanctified a people, set
a people apart, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and calls. I always find it interesting
that He speaks of their preservation previous to their calling. The
calling comes, of course, by the Holy Ghost, the effectual
call of the Gospel. When He comes into the soul of
that sinner, And that word proves to be a fruitful word. Salvation
comes with the call, the efficacious grace of God. But before ever
he experiences that call of grace, he is preserved. He's preserved
even in the time of his unregeneracy. Why? Because it's all fixed in
God's covenant. that covenant ordered in all
things, and sure, that covenant that's referred to in Isaiah
55 as the sure mercies of David. And there Jeremiah says concerning
the ways of God, how He has embraced His people in His love. He has set His love upon them.
and he will save them in his own time so there's that sense
in which they're already established in the purpose of God but then
as God comes to them and deals with them and saves them they
discover that whilst they have a new nature they still possess
an old nature and their lives are such strange lives they are so unstable at times their frames vary they are not
always the same, their feelings change they know what it is to
have doubts and fears they know something of backslidings and
sins and their iniquities at times seem to separate between
them and their God they are established in the purpose of God and yet
what strange paradoxical lives they live when they come to experience
that grace of God, when God's love is shed abroad in their
hearts. And the ungodly know nothing
of these things. Or remember the words of the
Psalmist there in Psalm 55, 19. He says, Because they have no
changes, therefore they fear not God. That's the ungodly,
they have no changes. How their lives seem to be so
pleasant in comparison with the life that the child of God has
to live. He feels himself to be so changeable
a creature. Brisk and dull in half an hour,
hot and cold and sweet and sour says John Berridge in his own
quaint way. But how true the words are, what
changeable creatures. How can the believer then be
so firmly established in what we read off here in the text?
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
earlier and latter rain. Be ye also patient. Establish
your hearts, he says, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the Judge standeth before
the door." Here is the exhortation to patience, to long-suffering.
Establish your heart, he says. The coming of the Lord draweth
nigh. Oh, the Judge standeth before
the door. But how is the believer able
to become more established when he He's living this strange,
peculiar life of faith and he feels at times he's so wanting
in any patience or long-suffering. Are we not those who so often
are impatient? That's certainly my experience,
the great lack of patience. It's hard sometimes just to wait
on the Lord and to look to the Lord in the midst of trials and
troubles and difficulties. How is it then that we can, by
the grace of God, embrace such exhortations? Be patient, therefore
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Be ye also patient. Establish your hearts. How can
we become established? Well, I think In some ways we
could say the answer is found in the very word that is being
used here. This word that's rendered, established. The same word, exactly the same
word, is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament scripture.
Now that version, usually referred to as the Septuagint, was a translation that was made
before the coming of Christ in the what we call the intertestamental
period between the Old and the New Testament between the ministry
of course of the prophet Malachi and then the opening words of
the gospel according to Matthew there's a period of over 200
years where there was no more any revelation from God. The
Old Testament Scriptures close with the book of Malachi and
that's the Hebrew Bible of course but in that period of time when
first of all we have the great empire of Alexander Alexander
the Great the Grecian Empire and then that followed of course
by the Roman Empire and it's at that period of the Roman Empire
that Christ comes in the fullness of the time There was a translation
of the Old Testament into Greek during those years. As I said,
the interesting thing is that the word that we have here is
also used in that Greek version, and we find it, well we find
it several times, but I think of the passage that we have in
Exodus chapter 17 and verse 12 where the Jews or the Israelites
are suffering so much at the hands of the Amalekites. You know the passage. Moses is
to pray for the children of Israel that they might yet prevail against
the Amalekites. I'll read the passage. It's a
lovely passage. There at verse 8 in Exodus 17, then came Amalek
and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose
us out, men, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will
stand on top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses said to him and fought with Amalek. And
Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And
he came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand,
Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy,
and they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat thereon,
and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side
and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until
the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek,
and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in
the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar
and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissan. For he said, Because the Lord
hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation
to generation or he builds an altar and gives it that name
Jehovah Nissi the Lord is my banner the Lord is my banner
but we see the significance of this word established in that
it's the word that's used here in verse 12 Moses' hands were heavy and they
took a stone and put it under him and he sat there on and Aaron
and Herd stayed up his hands. And that expression stayed up
is rendered in that Greek version with this word established. Aaron
and Herd established his hands. The one on the one side, the
other on the other side, and his hands were steady. What does
it indicate then? This establishment comes by prayer. We're established by prayer.
It's the only way in which we can be established in any grace
of the Spirit of God. Here is Aaron and her, the two
of them with Moses, and they establish, they strengthen his
hand, that he might pray and Amalek is defeated. And this
is the only way whereby we can heed and obey the exhortation
of the text. Be patient therefore brethren
unto the coming of the Lord. How can we find such patience,
such non-suffering, such readiness to endure only as we look to
God, only as we cry to God. The believer is established in
patience by his prayers to the Lord. And so we see the apostle,
remember, time and again in his epistles, Paul, turns from addressing
those infant churches and instead of addressing them, he begins
to address himself to God. We have the prayers of Paul. in the epistles and we have in
times past looked at some of those remarkable prayers for
example there at the end of the third chapter in 1st Thessalonians
verse 11 he says now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ direct our way unto you And the Lord make you to increase
and abound in love one toward another and toward all men even
as we do toward you. To the end He may establish your
hearts unblameable in holiness by God even our Father at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with His saints. In many ways
what we have in those three verses is a prayer and what does he
conclude with? Well he finishes there at the end of the chapter
by speaking of the coming of the Lord. The same as we have
in this passage here in James. It speaks of the coming of the
Lord. How that coming draws nigh, how that the judge is standing
before the door. And what does Paul say? There at verse 13 he says to
the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness
before God even our Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus
with his saints, established by prayers. It's the only way
whereby we can be forbearing and long-suffering
and patient in all that the Lord appoints to us and for us. And then finally this morning,
what is the evidence? What is the evidence of such
patience? Well, verse 9, he says, grudge
not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold,
the judge standeth before the door. Grudge not one against
another. What is to be the mark of those
who possess this grace of patience? These people who are a long-suffering
and a forbearing people. Well, the believer is not taken
up with this world. But the believer is one who is
mindful of another world, another day. Or be patient, therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. The Lord will come.
We look not at the things which are seen, says Paul, but the
things which are not seen. The things which are seen are
temporal. The unseen things are eternal things. We are to be
those then who are heavenly minded. And as we are heavenly minded,
so we are those who are patiently looking, watching, waiting. Well,
as he continues here in verse 7, he uses the very homely figure. He uses that figure of the farmer. Behold, the husband and the farmer
waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it. until he received the early and
latter rain. And how does that farmer manifest
his long patience? What's the evidence of it? Well,
he's not one who is passive and slothful. He doesn't just sit
about doing nothing. Or remember how the wise man
speaks of the sluggards and slothfulness. The sluggard will not sow says
Solomon, by reason of the rain. Time and again in that book of
the Proverbs, he speaks against any slothfulness. Look at the
language there in the 24th chapter of Proverbs. The end of the chapter, verse
30, it says, I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard
of the man void of understanding, and lo, it was all grown over
with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and
the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered
it well, and looked upon it, and received instruction. And
so here you see what is James saying, it's much the same as
what Solomon says, receive instruction, receive instruction from the
husband now. He's waiting for the precious fruit of the earth,
he has long patience as he waits for it. But he's not slothful,
he's not slothful. He has his business to attend
to, he attends to it, and so the child of God is to attend
to those things that the Lord has appointed him. He must certainly
give himself to that great matter of prayer. He must be ever praying. Isn't that the mark of the elect?
God's elect, says Christ, which cry to him day and night. Oh, there's the mark of election,
they cry. And God brings them into circumstances and situations
where they can do nothing else but cry. Or certainly these poor
day laborers, reaping down the fields of these rich men, and
being defrauded of any payment. And yet, how their cries enter
into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. He
hears their prayer. He's able to answer their cry.
And so believers are to patiently persevere in prayers. They're heavenly minded, they're
looking to the Lord, they see that what the rich have is but
for a short while. Grudge not one against another,
he says. And the word that he uses here,
interestingly, it has this idea of groaning, being grieved, Well, believers
are not to be like that. Not to grudge, not to grumble,
not to complain. We won't do it. Certainly, dear
William Cooper. He was a great poet, wasn't he,
William Cooper? He was a poet laureate at one
stage. Very gifted man, but how he suffered. How he suffered
much in the way of mental affliction, melancholia. But think of the
words of the hymn when he says, have you no words? Ah, think
again. Words flow apace when you complain
and fill your fallow creatures' ear with the sad tale of all
your care. Have you no words? Oftentimes
we come to pray and words do fail us. We know not where to
begin, how to start. Prayer is laborious. but we're not to be those who
would grumble and complain we're to be those who would commit
the matter to the Lord and pray to Him that He would grant us
that that patience that we so much need even in the day of
grace because the day of grace is also that day wherein the
believer has tribulations and troubles in the world but says
Christ be of good cheer I have overcome the world that's our
encouragement And as I said the believer, he is troubled at times when he
sees the prosperity of the wicked. Wasn't that the experience of
the Psalmist? There in that 73rd Psalm. And then he finds a solution
ultimately to his trouble. The Psalm of Asaph, Psalm 73. Verse 3 it says, I was envious
at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked for
there are no bans in their death but their strength is firm they
are not in trouble as other men neither are they plagued like
other men therefore pride compass them about as a chain violence
covers them as a garment their eyes stand out with fatness they
have more than heart could wish and so he goes on But then we
come to verse 17, "...until I went into the sanctuary of God, then
understood I their end." Or they had more than heart could desire
with regards to the riches of this world. Just like the characters
that we have here in this fifth chapter of James, those rich
men, those who are abusing, the signs
of God, the Lord's children. But where does Esau find the
answer when he goes into the sanctuary, when he comes into
the presence of God? That's the only way we're going
to understand. Oh, what does he say back in the
opening chapter? Let patience have her perfect
work. that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing. Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. Be ye also patient, he says. Establish your hearts for the
coming of the Lord. draw us nigh. The Lord will appear
for His people. He'll appear for them time and
time and time and time and time again. He'll do that in the day
of grace. He has said troubled tribulations
in the world. He has overcome the world. But
ultimately we know that the Lord Himself is to come at the end
of time. Oh, that blessed hope of the
child of God, the Lord's appearing. the great day of judgment, every
matter then to be made right. This is our comfort. Oh God grant
us that patience whereby we are watching, waiting and longing
for the day of the Lord's appearance. Be patient therefore brethren
unto the coming of the Lord. May the Lord be pleased to bless
His word to us. Let us conclude our worship this
morning as we turn to the hymn 387 and the tune is of Ben's
275. As we to wait upon the Lord while
He fulfills His gracious word to seek His face and not in vain,
to be beloved and love again, to see while prostrate at His
feet, Jehovah on the mercy seat, and Jesus at the Lord's right
hand with His divine atonement stand." 387, Tune 275. Lord, why thee fulfills his gracious
word, To seek his face, and not in vain, To thee be loved, and
love again.