As James comes to the latter
part of his epistle, he writes to his Brethren in chapter 5
and in verse 7, the following, Be patient, therefore, Brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, a husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be also
patient. Establish your hearts for the
coming of the Lord, draw if nigh. Grudge not one against another,
brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before
the door. Be patient, therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. James exhorts his brethren to
be patient, to endure, to wait upon the Lord, to look for His
coming, to look for His return, to look for Him to come unto
them, to look for Him to come unto them in their troubles,
in their trials, in their circumstances, to wait patiently upon the Lord. And so exhorting, he returns
to that which he began with in chapter 1. Speaking to those
who knew trial and knew temptation. He encouraged patience. He encouraged
the walk of faith and faith alone. This was a people A Jewish people
who'd come to know Christ and his gospel, who'd come to know
his salvation, but in coming to know him, their world had
been turned upside down. What they thought they knew many
of them, they began to see was wrong. And what they learnt in Christ was so new and so different. That law, which many had been
so diligent to keep and so faithful to observe, they discovered in
the Gospel, was sent unto them to show them their utter inability
to keep it. their utter wretchedness and
sinfulness. The law was given to show us
our sin, our wretchedness, our desperate need of salvation,
our desperate need of Christ. We need to be delivered from
the law and from its condemnation and from its rule. We need to
be brought to faith in Christ alone. We need His blood, His
sacrifice. We need the Lamb of God. These people, many of whom were
zealous for the law, were brought to discover that salvation was
by grace, through faith alone, and that their efforts to keep
the law before they knew Christ or after they knew Christ could
bring them no righteousness. All their righteousness, all
their hope, all their salvation, was in Christ alone. And in every
trial, in every circumstance, James exhorts to look to Christ
by faith, to wait upon Him, to wait for His coming. These believers
were troubled by those who would constantly exhort to turn back
to works, to turn back to the law. James tells them. You cannot be justified by the
law. You offend in one point and you're
guilty of all. Look unto Christ. But there were
those who would come and say, well if we don't live by the
law then how shall we live? Will we not fall into sin? Will
we not just live as we like in sin? James says that faith is
not dead, faith is not abstract. Faith works by love, faith produces
works. A faith that has no works is
dead, it's no faith. But to look unto Christ is to
believe, is to trust, is to hope, is to rest, is to have the righteousness
of God in him. Faith works. Faith is a reality. Faith is the only means by which
you will walk righteously. It's the only means by which
you will wait upon the Lord and see His wondrous works. As with Moses of old, when he
brought the Israelites, that unbelieving people, to the Red
Sea. And they could not go forward
and they could not go back, but he says unto them, stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. Stand still. Wait upon the Lord. Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. These brethren lived in a day
and an age. where many of them had seen Christ
come in the flesh, where some had heard Him in person,
where some had seen Him rejected, crucified, slain for them. Some to whom James writes, May
even have been those who raised up their voice in condemnation
against the Saviour, crucify Him, crucify Him. We will not
have this man to reign over us. There would be those who looked
as He suffered upon the cross, who derided Him, who spat upon
Him, who mocked Him, who then later, For the power of the Spirit
of God came to hear his voice in the gospel, as Paul did. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Then they've been brought to
faith in the one they slew. Have you heard his voice in the
gospel? Has the Lord come unto you as
he came unto Saul? From heaven's glory in the gospel,
speaking unto you, why persecutest thou me? Why persecutest thou me? These are a people who saw Christ,
some of them saw him at his first coming. Some didn't, some were
born after, some came to hear of him after. And he came unto
them in the gospel. We live in a day and an age,
2,000 years after the coming of Christ. You may say, where
is his coming? He came, as he was promised to
come. But he comes today. in his gospel. And he will return in power at
the end of the age to gather in everyone for whom he died,
everyone for whom he suffered, all his church. There's coming
a day when he will come physically in power again to gather in his
elect. Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. James exhorts them to expect
that day, to look for that day, to wait upon him. He came the
first time, he's coming the second time. Wait, look, expect. Peter writes the same thing in
his epistle as we read earlier. Many doubted, many mocked, many
said, where is the promise of his coming? Generations are born,
generations go, where is he? But Christ came as promised and
he will return as promised. And the day of the Lord when
he returns will come as a thief in the night. in the 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 burnt up. seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to
be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting
unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat there's that day is coming nevertheless we according to
his promise Look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Where are you looking? What are
you hoping in? Are you looking for the coming
of Christ? Are you hoping for a new heaven
and a new earth or do you have all your trust, all your rest
in this earth and the heavens above this earth? Is all your
hope in just what you can see? Despite the sin. Despite the
darkness. Despite the depravity. Despite
the evil you see all around you. People are born, people die.
People are born, people die. Life is brief and it's filled
with sorrow. Do you rest and hope in this? Well those to whom James wrote,
looked for another heavens. and another earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. They looked by faith and waited
for the coming of the Lord, who will not tarry. Who will not
tarry. Oh, how we should wait. He's
coming. He will not tarry. Writer of the Hebrews writes,
ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of
God, ye might receive the promise for yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come and will not tarry. For the just
shall live by faith. They look, they wait, they rest,
even if it doesn't happen in their lifetime. When Christ came
into this world, when he was born in Bethlehem, when he grew
as a man and came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and in
the end was rejected by all, Slain, crucified, when he came
into this world, he came at the appointed time in the fullness
of time. And generations had been awaiting
his coming. Thousands of years, generation
after generation, faithful believers who'd had their eyes open to
the Messiah and the fact that God's Christ would come, that
God would come to his people. He would come and meet with them.
He would come to save them. He would offer himself as a lamb,
as a sacrifice for sin. Generations looked for his coming. They waited for his coming. They
died in faith. Noah looked for a sacrifice of
which the ark was but a picture. Abraham looked and waited for
that promised land to come and the sacrifice to lead him into
it. He offered up Isaac. as a picture
of that son who would be offered up for him. And God prevented
him offering Isaac because he saw the faith of Abraham and
said, I will provide myself a sacrifice. And in Isaac, Abraham saw Christ
who would come. But Abraham died in faith. David,
saw so much of Christ, he wrote so much of him in the Psalms,
he believed and he waited. These all died in faith not having
received the promises but having seen them afar off and were persuaded
of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. Be patient therefore brethren
unto the coming of the Lord. He will not tarry. They waited. They looked. They waited. They
looked. And then in Bethlehem was born
a Saviour, King of the Jews. When Christ came at the appointed
time, his parents took him as a child to Jerusalem, to the
temple. And he was presented unto Simeon
and unto Anna, who waited and looked for the coming of the
Saviour. We read in Luke chapter 2, And
behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the
same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came
by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles
and the glory of thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them
and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign
which shall be spoken against. Yea, your sword shall pierce
through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may
be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess,
the daughter of Phaneuel, of the tribe of Asser. She was of
a great age and had lived with her husband seven years from
her virginity, and she was a widow of about four score and four
years. which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And
she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord,
and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in
Jerusalem. And when they had performed all
things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into
Galilee to their own city, Nazareth. Yes, Anna. spake of Christ to
all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She waited her
lifetime. She waited upon the Lord for
the coming of Christ. Simeon waited to a great old
age, believing, trusting, waiting, and they saw Jesus, their Savior,
who came. at the appointed time unto them.
When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Yes, in the fullness of time
Christ came as promised. Thousands of years had gone by. Generations had waited for his
coming. Many would have said, where is
the promise of Messiah's coming? But he came. He came. He came to redeem them that were
under the law. to deliver them, to set them
free, to bring redemption to Israel. As Anna knew, she waited
for redemption. She spake of Him to all those
that looked for redemption. She waited to be set free from
her sins. And Christ came in the fullness
of time unto Anna. And through his death, he set
Anna free. He washed her clean. He delivered
and saved Simeon. He came as the saviour of Noah,
of Abraham, of Isaac, of David, of generations that waited for
his coming. Did he come for you? come for
you yes he came to set his people free as a redeemer to deliver
them he came like Moses in at the appointed time came unto
Israel who were in captivity in bondage in Egypt that people
trapped trapped by the world in which
they live, trapped by the rule of Egypt, trapped by their own
sin, in captivity, chained as slaves. They waited, and they
waited to be delivered, to be set free. And at the appointed
time, God sent down Moses to Pharaoh and said, set my people
free, let my people go. And God by His mighty hand delivered
that people from Pharaoh's grip. He brought them out miraculously. He brought them across the sea
miraculously. They were brought to wait upon
Him. Even when they came to the sea
they were brought to wait upon the Lord. Stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. Have you been brought to wait?
Or are you still trying to accomplish your own salvation? Are you still
trying to do something to set yourself free? Or have you been
brought to an end of all things, all strength, all ability to
stand still? And behold, the Saviour coming
unto you as your Redeemer. Yes, this people waited and then
the Lord came. The Lord came to deliver Israel
out of Egypt and He came to deliver Israel, spiritual Israel, from
all its foes, from sin, from death, from hell. Christ came
at the appointed time to redeem, to deliver, to deliver sinners
like you and I. But his deliverance, his salvation,
that redemption, that ransom comes at a cost. He gave his life to set his people
free. He died that they should live. He paid a price to redeem them. He paid the redemption price. He paid the ransom price. He
paid with his own blood, with his own life, through his own
death. He was brutally taken and nailed
to the cross. He was beaten. bruised, spat
upon, scourged, rejected by all, you and I included. He paid a
great price in order that he should shed his blood to wash
his people's sins, to set them free. Our sins nailed him to that cross. Our hatred put Him there. Our rejection of Christ and His
gospel secured Him to the tree. Our sins brought down the wrath
and the judgment of God's righteousness against His own Son. He suffered
alone. rejected by all, abandoned by
His disciples even. All rejected Him and God in justice
placed His people's sins upon His own Son and rained down His
wrath and judgment against Him. He poured down fire upon His
own Son. He consumed the sacrifice. Oh what a price Christ paid when
He came. to save His people when He came
into this world to deliver His people from their sins. Did He
come for you? Did He come for you? Did He pay
that price for your sins? Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. Did He come the first time for
you? And has He come in His Gospel
to you to say, this is what I did, this is what I suffered in the
darkness, upon the tree, under the wrath of God, because of
your sins, to set you free? Oh, what a price he paid to set
sinners free. Do you know him? Have you heard
him? Have you seen him? Has he come
unto you? Those to whom James writes, some
of them saw him at his first coming. Some of them heard his
voice, saw him as a man, But whether they saw him or not,
all those that believed had him come unto them in faith. He came unto them in the gospel. He opened their blind eyes to
see. He made the deaf to hear. He
gave them faith to believe. He made dead sinners live. He came. And as James exhorts, he is coming
again. When he has brought every last
sinner for whom he died to hear the gospel and to believe on
him, he will come again. And he will come again to this
world to gather in his church for whom he died, every blood-bought
soul, and he will divide them from those that know him not. from the wicked, from those who've
no time for him, for those who care not for him, from those
who would never hear, he will come in judgment. This world
will be judged. Grudge not one against another,
brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before
the door. The coming of the Lord, draweth
nigh. He's coming again. When He came
the first time, He came to a world which largely looked not for
Him, which generally believed He would
not come, and yet He did come. And when He comes the second
time, He will come unto a world where many don't want Him. where many aren't looking for
Him, but where the faithful wait and look for the promise of His
coming. Yes, He comes again. He's coming
again. For Christ has not entered into
the holy places made with hands which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us. Christ, having completed his
work upon the earth, having offered up himself for sacrifice, has
entered into the presence of God. nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest centrif into the holy place every
year with the blood of others for then he must often have suffered
since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the
world Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself he came once he offered himself once for sin And as it
is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,
so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time without
sin. under salvation if he was offered
for your sins believer he's going to come the second time with
no sin it's gone it's taken away it's been blotted out he will
come perfect and righteous to take you perfect and righteous
in him to be with him forevermore he's coming Be patient therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. He's coming. His work
has been wrought. He's victorious. He's conquered
every foe. He won every battle. He's coming. Peter writes in the chapter we
read, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise of coming again,
as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to us with
his people, not willing that any that Christ died for, not
willing that any for whom he suffered should perish, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
He will not return until everyone for whom he died has heard this
message. and being brought to faith to
believe it. Oh you unbelieving sinner, who
will not hear, who will not believe the fact that Christ has not
returned yet. Maybe, because he won't come
until you're brought. to an end of your unbelief, an
end of a hard heart, an end of your self-confidence, an end
of trusting in self, He won't come until you're broken, and
until you cry out unto Him for mercy, and until you're brought
by faith to believe, then He'll come. Maybe the fact that He
hasn't come yet is because you've yet to hear. Oh, the long-suffering
and mercy of God towards us that is yet to come because he's still
preaching his gospel. He's not willing that any for
whom Christ died should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
in the which the heaven 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 burnt up. He's coming. Is he coming as your savior?
Or is he coming as your judge? In 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes
the following in chapter 5, But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety, Then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape, but
ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are the children of light
and the children of the day. We are not of the light nor of
darkness. This day will come like a thief
in the night to those that look not for him. But if God gives
you the patience and the faith, brethren, to wait upon the Lord,
to wait for His coming, to look and expect it, then it will come
as you expect. How often Paul writes of the
coming of Christ in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, it's very much
the theme of that epistle. 1 Thessalonians 2 he says, for
what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye
in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? We're
looking for him to come, we're looking for that day when we'll
be with him. We know it will come. And the
trials and the travails of this world are fleeting there but
for a moment, look beyond them, look up unto Christ. He's coming
and he's coming in power. Chapter three, to the end, he
may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even
our father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all
his saints. He's coming. And he's coming
every time he comes in the gospel. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2, Now we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and
by our gathering together unto him. And then shall that wicked
be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Christ came in the fullness of
time to deliver his people from their sins. He's coming again
to gather everyone for whom he died as a perfect church, as
his perfect bride to be with him forevermore and to destroy
the wicked who know not his salvation. He will come as both a judge
and a savior. But he also comes in the gospel
every time He preaches by His Spirit to His people. The Lord's coming for which we
wait, for which we patiently wait by faith is not just some
future event which we may not see in our lifetimes, but it's
that that happens whenever He comes unto us in His Gospel.
We wait upon Him patiently, we endure through the trial because
He does come. And he does answer, though it
may be years, though we may wait on him in circumstances wondering
if he'll answer our prayers, he comes, he comes. His coming is that which is known
by every believer now. He comes unto His own in the
Gospel. He makes Himself known unto them
through the Gospel. He meets and He communes with
them. He watches over them. He provides
for them. He's ever present. He never leaves
them nor forsakes them. He's always with them. Always
with them. Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. He's always with them. He comes
in the spirit, in power, in the gospel. Because this gospel comes not
in word only, but in power. In the Holy Spirit, in much assurance,
it comes in power. For we've not followed cunningly
devised fables, Peter writes. We've not followed cunningly
devised fables. There are many today, scoffers,
who come in the last day, as Peter wrote in that chapter that
we read earlier. He speaks of those in the last
day, scoffers shall come, those that mock, those that deride,
those that reject, who say, oh, these things are fables. The
Word of God, the account of Noah, the account of the miracles in
the Old Testament, even the account of Christ. Oh, it's just fables,
they say. Oh, how deceived we are by Satan
by nature. Peter wrote 2,000 years ago,
we have not followed cunningly devised fables. when we made
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Peter wrote what he
saw and what he knew. He saw Christ, he knew Christ,
he saw him physically, but he knew him spiritually. He knew
his majesty, he knew his power, he knew the power of the gospel
and saving grace. And we who come with the Gospel
to you today, we're not preaching cunningly devised fables, we're
preaching a reality. We're not preaching a persuasion
that we have in our minds. But we're preaching the reality
of God as He has made Himself known unto us. Christ has appeared
unto us. We know Him. We know the power
of His gospel. We know the power of His salvation.
We know the cleansing of His blood. We are eyewitnesses of
His majesty. He came unto us in power. And by the gospel He can come
unto you in power too. because we know Him. He walks
with us, He lives with us, He's in us and we're in Him. Indeed
Christ has promised unto His people, I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee. Whatever the circumstances that
we find ourselves in, whatever the trials we find ourselves
in, whatever the trials that these people to whom James wrote
found themselves in, Christ was ever present. Whether they saw
Him or not, whether they heard Him or not, He was always there. And He would always come in the
end to deliver them. Therefore will the Lord wait
that he may be gracious unto you. And therefore will he be
exalted that he may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God
of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait
for him. Isaiah writes. Do you wait? Do you wait in the
midst of your trial? Do you wait in the midst of temptation? Has God given you faith to wait? Constantly the Lord exhorts his
people, wait upon me. Grudge not one against another
brethren lest you be condemned. Behold the judge standeth before
the door. Be patient, establish your hearts
for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. He's coming. As the psalmist
writes, wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt
thee to inherit the land when the wicked are cut off thou shalt
see it. Wait on the Lord. Let not them
that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake.
Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O
God of Israel. Wait on the Lord. Psalmist writes
in Psalm 27, Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall
strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Our constant temptation in the
flesh is to do something, to put our hand to something. Whenever
we're brought into trial and difficulty, we try to find a
way out. We don't wait. We don't wait
by nature. We're impatient by nature. We
like to solve things by our own strength and our own wisdom.
But the child of God is constantly brought to an end of their own
strength. Everything they do comes to nothing. Every attempt that they make
to solve things comes to nothing. It often makes things worse and
they're brought to wait. And then the Lord comes in salvation. He came when Christ came into
this world to lay down his life for sinners. And he comes to
every child for whom he died. in all their circumstances at
the appointed hour to deliver them. Wait on the Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and
speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment
is passed over from my God? Why do you think he's forgotten
you? Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting
God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth
not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even
the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk and not faint. Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. For he shall surely come. And
He shall surely deliver us. And He will surely return in
mighty power at the end of the age to gather in His people.
He came and wrought a victorious salvation. He suffered and died
for His people. He cried out, it is finished.
And there is none that can pluck any of His people from His hands. He wrought salvation. He came
and He's coming. And He will come unto you. Brethren,
in whatever your circumstances, whatever your trials, be patient,
therefore, unto the coming of the Lord. For they that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk and not faint. Amen.