James 5:7-12
“_Be Patient_”
Patience when we face sufferings.
V7-8 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
1. God is not done yet- so live patiently by faith.
The Lord is coming and there will be a harvest.
Patience when we face _disappointment_.
V9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
2. My brothers do not blame your troubles on one another or you will fall under judgment; and there stands the Judge, at the door. (NEB)
3. Don’t make complaints against each other in the meantime my brothers (as you wait for Christ’s return)- you may be the one at fault yourself. The judge himself is already at the door. (Phillips)
4. What do we usually do when we begin to feel stressed or when the pressure of struggles blow up?
5. “The Judge is standing at the door.”
Patience when we face _disapproval_.
V10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
6.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12, ESV
7.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Matthew 23:37, ESV
8.
Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
Acts 7:52, ESV
Patience when we face _disaster_.
V11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful
9. Job’s disasters:
- lost 10 children.
- covered in boils.
- all his livestock and servants gone or killed.
- Wife tells him to curse God and commit suicide.
- 3 “friends” told him his sins cause terrible sufferings.
10. “The patience of Job”
(Not perfect, but patient)
* _Perseverance_ * _Purpose_ * _Passion_
Patience when we face _dishonesty_.
V12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
God does not give us overcoming life……..
God does give us _life as _we overcome.
11.
-How did Job’s faith work while he suffered?
-Why was he patient and steadfast?
-How can our faith produce the fruit of patience in suffering?
12. Extend your horizon- “the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
13.
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
Job 19:25, ESV
14.
And after my skin had been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,
Job 19:26, ESV
whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
Job 19:27, ESV