The title of the lesson tonight is, Perseverance
and Conduct Under Trials. Perseverance, patience. The patience
he's speaking of here, that James is speaking of, is a patient
endurance. It's like running a long race,
set in for the long haul. That's what he's talking about.
Now in the previous verses, James addresses the rich of this world
and their abuse of the wealth that they have accumulated and
the abuse of those who worked for them and they held their
wages back. It was making them suffer because they were not
paying them what they owed them. RICHES DO NOT PROTECT AGAINST
JUDGEMENT. James is showing us this in this
chapter. Go to now you rich men, weep
and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. RICHES DO
NOT protect against judgment. God is a just God, and God will
bring all injustice into judgment. And He'll correct, He will right
everything that's been wronged, and everybody's been wronged.
Now in verses 7-12, James turns now and addresses the brethren
again. If you'll notice in verse 1,
he says, "...go to now ye rich men." He doesn't call them brethren. Now I know that we all are brothers
and sisters in Adam. I know that. But he doesn't call
them brethren in Christ like he's been calling them brethren
throughout this epistle. He doesn't call them that. And
he says this in verse 7 to them as he addresses the brethren
now, those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Be patient,
therefore, brethren. We have need of patience as we
pass through this world. We need to remember this. It's
a journey. It's a journey. And everything
that you and I will endure, everything that God will bring in our lives
is part of the journey home. Remember that. It's part of the
journey home. Let's not be like kids who are
always saying, are we there yet? No, we're not there yet. We're
still here. We are pilgrims. The Word of
God teaches us that we are pilgrims here. We're pilgrims. We're on
a journey. We're looking for a city whose
builder and maker is God. Is that what you're looking for?
That's what I'm looking for. I know that's what we're looking
for. We walk on enemy territory. I
thought about this today as I was going over this. We walk on enemy
territory. This is not our home. We live
in a world that hates God. We live in a world that hates
Jesus Christ, the Christ of God. The world hates Him. I know the
world doesn't hate this Jesus who wants to save everybody,
wants to do good, wants everybody to be rich. But that Jesus Christ
doesn't even exist. That's another Jesus. But they
hate the sovereign Christ of God, and they hate God's people. Christ said, if they hated Me,
they'll hate you. They'll hate you also. So let's
be patient as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
That's what we're doing. We're walking through the valley
of the shadow of death. And for the most part, believers
will have to work for unbelievers who are not honest. For the most
part, they're not honest. They're just not honest people.
The only people who are truly, truly honest are those whom God
saves. He makes them honest. He makes
them honest. But never lose sight of this.
Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
Let's never lose sight of that. Let's never forget that. Christ
is the mark, He's the prize of the high calling of God. He's
our aim. He's our goal. To be with the
Lord, is that not our goal? Is that what I just read to you
in Psalm 27? One thing have I desired, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. That's my one aim. Here is the
believer's ambition. This is the believer's ambition,
that I might know Him. Paul said in Philippians 3, that
I might know Him and the power of His resurrection. That's our
ambition. Our desire is to be with Him. It's to be with the Lord Jesus
Christ. So he said, Be patient until the coming of the Lord.
Never lose sight of that. We are waiting on someone. We're
not waiting on something. We're waiting on a person. How
real is this to you? How real is this to me? How real
is the coming of Christ? He may come tonight. He may come
tomorrow. But I assure you this, He may not come for another thousand
years. There's nothing to keep Him from
coming right now. But I tell you this, He'll come
for each one of us here eventually. As I grow older, it's not that
much longer. It's not that much longer for
any of us in here. If the Lord does not come back
and put an end to all this, He will come back and get us individually,
one at a time, here and here. When the fruit is ripe, He'll
come and pick it. He'll come to His garden and pick it. Now this waiting is not something
that is passive but active. It's being about our Father's
business as we look for His return. And he gives the example. The
farmer, he says, he gives the example of the farmer. The farmer
plants his crops. And then he waits on God to send
the much-needed rain in its season, the early and latter rain. Back
in that day, and even now I'm sure over there, it would rain
in October when they'd plant, and then they would get another
rain in, I think it was around March. And the farmer would plant,
and then he'd wait on God. He was at the mercy of God, waiting
on God to send the rain and give the increase. And we too, we
too are at the mercy of God. We too. And what he's saying
here is wait on God. Wait on God with patience. Endure
whatever God sends your way, my way, to mature us, to make
us grow up, to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as the farmer's crops will not grow until God does His work, Neither shall we grow." Spiritually
now. Neither shall we grow until God
sends us the needed trials, the needed trials for spiritual growth.
So be patient, he's saying. Endure. Keep in the race. Keep running the race that's
been set before you. And do not murmur against God's
wise providence. Oh, let's not murmur against
God's wise providence. Christ said in Matthew 24, 13,
He that endures to the end, and that's kind of what that patience
He's talking about, this patience He's talking about is an endurance,
shall be saved. Shall be saved. He says in verse
8, so be patient. You must be patient like the
farmer. Wait on the Lord to work His
will in us and for us. That's what He's doing. That's
what God's doing. He's working His will in us and
for us. Establish your hearts. Strengthen
your hearts in Christ. That's what it means when He
says establish. Strengthen. Strengthen your hearts in Christ, not tossed
about because of conflicts, not tossed about because of afflictions,
whether they be inward or outward. Strengthen your heart. It's of
the Lord. You know, whenever God took Hopdine Phinehas, Eli's
two sons, what did he say? It's the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth good in his sight. It's the Lord. We are so prone
to doubting God's love and grace to us in Christ when trials come
our way? Job was tried because God loved
him. God took everything away from
Job because He loved Job. He loved him. Christ said one
time to His disciples concerning the Pharisees, Now which do you want? God to
try your faith, prove your faith, or leave you alone? Or leave
you alone like he did to his Pharaoh? Don't leave me alone.
Lord, don't leave me alone. Don't leave me alone. Whatever
brings us closer to the Lord Jesus Christ will be worth it
in the end. Whatever it is. Whatever God
uses to bring you closer to Him. One day you'll thank Him for
it. One day I'll thank Him for it, no matter how hard it is
now. One day I'll thank Him for it. The only way the heart can be
established is by the Word of God. Just reading it. Did not
Psalm 27, bless your heart, It did mine. It blessed my heart. I thought, I may preach from
that. I've got a Bible conference to
preach in here in a few weeks. I may just look at that psalm.
That is such a powerful psalm. What a blessing God's Word is.
What you're hearing tonight, right here in James chapter 5,
being instructed, being taught of God's Spirit. I'm not the
one just standing here teaching. I better not be. I better not
be. I better be God's Spirit. But
the heart is established by the Word of God, by the preaching
of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and trials, trials, hardships,
conflict, the ones that God sends our way. what we consider to be an expression
of displeasure. Now listen, let me read this.
I wrote this down because I thought about this, I've been thinking
about this for a few days. What we consider to be an expression
of displeasure is really an expression of God's love, of God's love. My father, my earthly father,
didn't let me do a lot of things growing up. And there was a lot
of company he would not let me run around with. I mean, my dad
was strict, but there was a lot of places he would not let me
go. But now I look back and I think, thank you, Dad, because I promise
you I'd have gotten in trouble. I'd have gotten in trouble. And so God sends us trials and
afflictions, puts us under these things that He may teach us. that He may bring us closer to
Him, conform us to the image of Christ, make us just like
His Son, His only begotten Son. And there's no other way of doing
that than through suffering. Through suffering. The Scripture
says, Whom the Lord loveth, He chastens. He chastens every son
whom He receives. Then he says here in verse 9,
"'Grudge not one against another, brethren. Don't turn on one another.'" Don't turn on one another. When
you go, when God puts you under a heavy trowel, don't let it
make you bitter with envy, saying, "'Why me? Why this?' That's questioning the wisdom
of God. Isn't it? The wisdom of our faith,
that's really bringing God into judgment. That's bringing Him
under scrutiny of my judgment, which is worthless. But grudge not, listen, listen,
it means this, it means this, it means to sigh or to groan
inwardly against a brother. That's what it means. It means
you grudge. You grudge. You don't say it. You keep it
to yourself. But inwardly, you have a grudge
going on against your brother. And here's what he's saying.
Don't be guilty of inward bickering and accusations. That's what
he's saying. Don't be guilty of that. He said,
don't let that go on. Don't let that fester. Don't
let that fester and grow in you, that bickering and envy and jealousy,
but instead be forgiving. And if God puts me under a heavy
trial, and God blesses you, Ray, He blesses you and gives you
a great job, and I just lost my job, I need to rejoice. That's what
I'm to do, to rejoice that God blessed you. Christ did. Christ never murmured and complained
at all against the providence of God and the way God dealt
with Him. He didn't do that at all. That's why He's saying, grudge
not, don't you sigh and groan inwardly and bicker inwardly
and carry a grudge inwardly. He said, don't do that. Because
I tell you what, God looks on the heart. God does business in the heart.
That's where He does business. In the heart. Trials, listen, trials hurt. They hurt. They wouldn't be called
trials or fiery trials. They wouldn't be called fiery.
Peter called them fiery. You ever stick your hand in fire?
What's it do? Burns, doesn't it? It'll burn. It can even leave a scar. Peter
called them fiery trials. Trials that stick. Trials that
hurt. Trials that burn. Trials reveal
a lot about us. Trials not only reveal faith,
but it reveals what's still in me. I was thinking today it reveals
how much sin is still in me, but I tell you what, you can't
reveal how much. We could not know the depth of
sin that's in us. We can't know it. Only Jesus
Christ could know that. Only He could know that. But
it does reveal to us what's in us. You feel ashamed after God
has brought you through something. You look back and you say, what
did Job say at the end? I abhor myself in sackcloth and
ashes. You think he didn't look back
and remember some of those things he said? He said some pretty
tough things, even concerning God. And you know he looked back and
he said, I abhor myself in sackcloth and ashes. and you look back
and you think you're embarrassed, you're ashamed that you thought
in such a way of God, had such low thoughts of God, of your
father, your father. But trials hurt, but they wouldn't
be called trials. And when God sends them our way,
let's not envy or blame or be upset with another Brother, because
of this reason, God is the first cause of all things. And my complaining
says, you don't recognize that. If I'm complaining and murmuring
about it, then I'm not recognizing the very truth that God's the
first cause of all things. He may use second causes, God
uses means, but God's the first cause. All things it says in
2 Corinthians 5. All things are of God. All things. Absolutely everything. And here's what we need to do.
We need to bow to Him in all things with a meek and quiet
spirit, knowing... Now listen. knowing that all
things are working together for our good. I don't understand
why God has put me through some of the things He's put me through,
and my wife and family, or why God's put you through what you've
been put through. But I do know this. It's working together for
our eternal good. We have God's Word on that. And
that's enough. That's enough. And besides this,
Our trials, our afflictions and heartaches are really, Paul calls
them, light afflictions. Now Paul gives a list in one
place of all that he's been through, the shipwrecked, stoned. I mean,
he gives a whole list of them. And then Paul says in 2 Corinthians
4.17. Let's turn over there and read
it. You need to read this. Sometimes I get in too much of
a hurry. Let me start reading in verse
15. For all that 2 Corinthians chapter
4, I don't know if I gave that to you, verse 15. 2 Corinthians
4.15, "...for all things are for your sakes." Whatever's going
on with you, whatever's going on throughout this whole world,
I mean on the other side of the globe, it's all working together
for you. For all things are for your sakes,
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not,
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment..." That's all what you're going through.
It seems like it's never going to end. I promise you, it's just
for a moment. when time is over with, when
He puts one foot on the sea and one foot on the shore and declares
that time shall be no more, it'll be but a moment. That's all. Just a moment. for our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us." It's
working for us. These afflictions right now,
these trials, these heartaches, they're working for us. They're
like employees. They're like employees. They're
working for us. God's employed them for us. They worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory While we look
not at the things which are seen, and God help us to quit looking
at the things which are seen, let us get above that. Let us
grow up. Grow up in Christ, mature, and
start looking at the things that are not seen. While we look not
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. Everything's temporal that you
and I can see. There'll be a day when Vicki
won't be my wife. She'll die and I'll die. That
relationship's over with. It is. My relationship as a father
to my two sons will be over with. It'll be severed. But the relationship
I have in Christ and the relationship you and I have in Christ, that
goes on forever. That's eternal. That's eternal. It's not temporal. But the things
which are not seen are eternal. And that's what you and I set
our hearts on. Set your hearts on things above, where Christ
sits at God's right hand. Colossians chapter 3. So these things are working for
us. They're working for us. An eternal, a far greater eternal
weight of glory is coming our way in Christ. Now he tells us here, he gives
us a warning in verse 9. He says, "...the judge is at
the door." When he says, "...grudge not, don't you bicker inwardly."
The judge is at the door. God knows your heart. God knows
your heart. He's at the door. Judgment belongs
to Christ. He'll do right. Therefore, let's
wait on Him to handle all matters properly. If we judge, this is
what he's saying, if we judge, we're setting ourselves up for
judgment or condemnation or a chastening. A chastening. And then he's going to turn,
he's going to use the prophets as an example in verse 10. As
an example of patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in
the name of the Lord. Look how they were treated. Look
how Paul was treated. He was God's servant. These men
were God's choice servants, these prophets. They spoke in the name
of the Lord. God chose them. They're mine. And yet they were treated so
mean, so mean, so brutal. He said, Now look at them, how
they endured the hardships. Even though they were the Lord's
servants, they endured the hardships. Are we any better? Am I any better
than Isaiah? Am I better than Paul? Are we any better than the prophets?
If they suffered, shall not we suffer? If Christ suffered, shall
not we suffer? If our head suffered, shall not
the body suffer? This gives you an attitude adjustment
is what it does. It does. But look at them now. Look here
in verse 11. Well, first in verse 10, let
me read it again. Take my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken
in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering and affliction,
and of patience, of endurance. They didn't quit. In fact, before
I go on, let me read in Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Let me read this before I go
on. Look in verse 35. Let me start with 35. It says, Hebrews chapter 11,
verse 35. Women received their dead raised
to life again, and others were tortured. These are God's children. These are God's prophets. These
are His elect. They were tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned. They were sawn
asunder. We're tempted. We're slain with
the sword. They wondered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, and we're worried about what we're going to eat,
drink, and wear. Look how they lived. For Christ's
sake. They did this for Christ's sake.
Being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. That's why Christ
said, count the cost. Before you join up, you might
want to count the cost. It's not this happy all the time,
get rich. No. No. He said, you'll be hated. "...of whom the world was not
worthy. They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens,
and in caves of the earth." That's our ancestors in the church. Are we any better? Oh brother,
I tell you what, we live like kings compared to the way they
had to live for the sake of the gospel. Take our brethren, the prophets,
who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example. Behold, we
count them happy, blessed, which endured. Where are they now? Where is Isaiah? Where is Jeremiah? We're Paul. Where are these men
at now? They're in glory. They're in
glory with the Lord Jesus Christ. We count them happy, don't we?
Happy, happy, happy. They are happy. Blessed of God. These trials and afflictions
are but for a moment. Just a moment. And look at Job, he said. Look
at Job. He patiently endured the loss of all that he had,
all of his children. His wife turned on him. He said,
my breath is strange to my wife. She said, why don't you curse
God and die? Why don't you curse God and commit
suicide? Go kill yourself. Yet in the end, God proved to
be very gracious to him and restored double. double all that He possessed. In Christ, we have much more
than we can ever lose in this life. You know that? No matter what I lose in this
life, I have much more in Christ. Whatever God takes from me, I
have much more in Christ. Much more. William Cowper wrote
this. I don't know if it's a hymn or
not, but it says, You fearful saints, fresh courage take, that
cloud you so much dread, are big with mercy, and shall break
in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face. But above all things, my brethren..."
Verse 12, and I close. "...swear not, neither by heaven,
neither by the earth..." Don't swear. "...above all things,
my brethren..." Swear not. Don't invoke or take the name
of God to establish what you're saying. That's why he's saying, don't
use God's name in an oath. Now he's not talking about a
court of law. He's not talking about that. The Jews had two
ways they would take an oath. Of course, they'd always figure
out how to get around it. But they would take an oath that
if it had to do anything with something holy, it was binding.
If it did not have to do something holy, it wasn't binding. He's
saying here, don't use God's name, don't swear in God's name,
don't invoke God's name to establish what you're saying. Here's what
he's saying. Honest people don't need to swear. Honest people don't need to take
it. You don't need to give an oath or take an oath or, I swear
to... I'll do it. Well, if you're honest,
you say you'll do it. That's all you got to say. That's
what he's saying. If you're honest, you don't have
to swear. You don't have to. When we call God, now listen.
When we call God to be witness on something, we use His name,
we swear by God, and we use His name, and we call Him to be a
witness. That's what we're saying. We better be true to the last
degree, for God will not honor one jot out of place. Think about
it. God's holy. If there's one jot
out of place, one jot or tittle out of place, He ain't gonna
honor it. And there's sin in everything
we do. And heaven and earth don't swear
by heaven and earth. They're not ours to swear by.
We don't own it. We don't own this earth. It's
God's. The earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, and they
who dwell therein. So don't swear by something that doesn't even
belong to you. Don't do that, he said. That's what the Lord
says in Matthew 5 in the Sermon on the Mount. Let's turn over
there. Matthew 5, verse 34. 34 Matthew 5, But I say to you,
Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne,
nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, neither by Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear
by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
But let your communication be this, be yea, yea, nay, nay. For whatsoever is more than these
cometh of evil. Just give, and he's saying this,
just give a simple yes or no. That's it. Don't take God's name
and use it in a vain way or in a vain oath. Don't do it. God
would not hold a man guiltless. Who does that? Here's the message. Be patient
under trials. Endure all things looking for
the coming of the Lord Jesus. He's on His way. He's coming.
He's coming. We need to get up every day looking
for Him. Looking for Him to come. Secondly, don't grieve or murmur
inwardly against your brother lest you be judged or chastened
of God. Forgive and forget by the grace of God. And lastly,
don't use God's name in vain, especially swearing in God's
name. Just say yes or no and leave it at that. Honest people
don't need to use an oath. Honest people don't need to swear. I was listening to a message
on Henry and he was talking about some of that, but he took it
a little further. He was talking about our language. He applied it, first of all,
to that. And he was talking about using bad language. And I like
what he said. He said, a person who's swearing
using bad language is nothing more than him dumping his trash
in my ears. I thought that's a good statement.
Don't dump your trash in my ears. It's a weakness. It's a weakness
of character. That's exactly what it is. You
know, you've been around guys at work, they swear up and down,
use all kinds of language. It's a weakness of character. I worked with a guy once, he
used the F-word. I counted in one minute. I looked
at my watch. He used the F-word ten times
in one minute. Because I was so curious, I thought,
man, how many times does this guy use this word? I looked at
it, I timed him. Oh, as he dumped his trash right
in my ears. As Henry said to us one time
in the preacher school, he said, bad language will always offend
somebody, but good language will never offend anyone. It'll never
offend anyone. Okay, Craig.