Sermon Tone Analysis

COMPASSION 17

GOD'S NATURE:  A MOTIVATION TOWARDS PATIENCE

James 5:7-11

(cmpas17.doc)

We come now to the New Testament study of the words "compassion," "compassions," and "compassionate."

I have studied every occurrence of these words in the New Testament of the NASB.

In the Old Testament, virtually every occurrence of these words was in reference to Jehovah God.

Since we believe in progressive revelation, i.e. the process of revelation in the Bible is steadily moving from lower to higher, from lesser to greater, from partial to the total, from the temporary to the final, we know that the Old Testament is preparatory and partial, whereas the New Testament is the final fulfillment.[1]

Therefore, Jehovah God's revelation of Himself, with respect to His compassion in the Old Testament, is a partial and preparatory revelation of Himself in the light of the New Testament.

In the New Testament, God gives us His latest and greatest revelation of Himself in the form of His Son.

This truth is highlighted in the following Scriptures:

 

Hebrews 1:1-3, "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in /His/ Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power."

John 1:18, "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten *God*, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained /Him/."

Matthew 1:23, "`Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and she shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which translated means, `God with us.'"

Therefore, on the basis of this truth, we can study the display of compassion in the life of Jesus to understand more about the compassion of Jehovah God:  because Jesus Christ is the revelation and explanation of God; "the exact representation of His nature"; "God manifest in the flesh"!

\\         So, let's seek to understand more about the compassion of Jehovah God by studying the compassion that Christ displayed in His life on earth.

Let's do this by first looking at a direct statement affirming His compassion; then looking at this compassion lived out in His life; then looking at a great metaphor concerning the compassion of Jesus Christ; then looking at the why of Jesus' compassion; then looking at specific exhortations and admonitions to all Christians with respect to compassion.

This will take us all of 15 messages, but it will be well worth it.

Now let us consider a direct statement confirming the compassion of Jesus Christ.

/(Turnwith me please James 5:7-11.)/

Although the direct statement confirming the compassion of Jesus Christ is contained in one clause of the 11th verse, for the sake of context, we need to study the entire paragraph which runs from the 7th through the 11th verses.

Remember a text without a context is a pretext, i.e. a text without a context is a lie!

So to avoid error in our exegesis of this text, we need to consider all the important verses.

Follow along with me in your Bibles please.

/(In this paragraph, written by James to the twelve tribes of Israel who were dispersed abroad, I see:)/

 

I.

A THREEFOLD EXHORTATION AND A THREEFOLD EXAMPLE.

These exhortations and examples kind of dove tail back and forth.

So rather than dealing with them topically, let's deal with them in their order of occurrence in the text.

Exhortation #1:   "Be patient, therefore, until the coming of the Lord" (v 7).

patient /3114 makrothumeo/ "2. to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others; to be mild and slow in avenging; to be long-suffering, slow to anger, slow to punish" (Thayer's).

The word indicates one who has the power to avenge himself, yet refrains from the exercise of his power (Trench).

Although patience is the main ingredient of this Greek word, it denotes a certain kind of patience.

It denotes patience under suffering and trials.

A better word would be *perseverance*.

\\         Whenever we see a "therefore," we need to find out what it is "therefore."

Therefore refers back to James' indictment of the rich.

He states the fact that their ill gotten gain testified of their evil and would not ultimately benefit them.

Therefore, those who are righteous need to be patient until the coming of the Lord.

Here is an exhortation that we really need in these times.

*People today are prone to quit anything entails pain and that does not bring them immediate gratification; /especially Christianity/*.

We know litte of perseverance in these days.

We know little of delayed gratification in these days.

But the exhortation here is for Christians to persevere, i.e. to patiently bear the offenses and injuries of others until the coming of the Lord.

/(Exhortation #1 is followed up by:)/

 

Example #1:        "Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains" (v 7).

The example that James gives is the example of the farmer who has planted his crops.

After the farmer has planted his crops, He has to *patiently wait* for his crops to yield their produce.

waits /1551 ekdechomai/ {ek-dekh'-om-ai}

 

2)      to look for, expect, wait for, await

 

He must wait until his crop receives the early and the late rains.

The growth of his crop is not in his hands.

Being anxious will not bring about quick or proper growth.

Going out and digging up the seed will not bring about the proper growth.

Being anxious will not bring the early spring rains or the rains that come late in the growing season.

They are in the hands of Mother Nature which is really the laws of God.

The farmer has learned over time that He must patiently wait for the soil and the rain to produce a crop from the seed that He has planted.

Likewise this is not the harvest, but the time of planting.

We must patiently wait for the crop of suffering that God has planted in our vineyard to produce the precious produce of righteousness which will be to our benefit at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

\\ /(James follows this first exhortation with a second exhortation:)/

 

Exhortation #2:           "You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand" (v 8).

It is interesting that James repeats his first exhortation so quickly.

You too be patient, even as the farmer is patient.

Evidently, He saw patience as a great *benefit* in the lives of those to whom he was writing.

But this time He adds an additional clause exhorting His readers to patience.

This clause gives a how-to with respect to his repeated exhortation.

They were to be patient by strengthening their hearts.

strengthen /4741 sterizo /{stay-rid'-zo}

 

1a)    to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix: to set one's face steadfastly, keep the face turned

 

They were to steadfastly set their intellects, emotions and wills towards patient waiting.

You cannot wait patiently until you "make up your mind" in English colloquialism.

The Greek entails more than your mind.

You cannot wait patiently until you set your heart, i.e. intellect, emotions and will towards waiting!

Have you prepared your heart to wait patiently before God?  "Wait for what?"

I can hear you say.

Wait for whatever God wants to do in your life:  make you a good wife, husband, father, mother, brother, sister, relative, minister, church worker, leader, employee, friend, etc.

In this second exhortation, James also adds an additional imperative by highlighting the imminence of the Lord's coming.

Strengthen your hearts because the Lord is soon to come!!!  Everything should look different in the light of the Lord's soon return.

/(As I have already explained, James does not alternate an exhortation with an example, but mixes them up for his own purposes.

Perhaps he mixes them up as one would do in normal speech.

At any rate, before he gives us the second example, he moves on to a third exhortation.)/

Exhortation #3:           "Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door" (v 9).

\\ James has given his readers two exhortations to be patient.

We have seen that the word translated "patience," /makrothumeo/, means to patiently bear up under ill treatment.

*Now, the perpetrators of this ill treatment are seen:  brethren*!

That's a shock, isn't it?

We expect to bear up under ill treatment meted out by sinners, but not by the brethren.

Nevertheless, that is where most of our ill treatment will come from.

Be that as it may, when we receive ill treatment from our brethren, we are to patiently suffer under it because the coming of the Lord is at hand.

But in this third exhortation there is more than just another exhortation.

There is a description of how we are to act when we are patiently bearing up under undeserved suffering.

We are bear up under undeserved suffering without complaining against one another.

complain /4727 stenazo/ "/to sigh, to groan; murmur/."[2]

When you complain, sigh, or murmur against a fellow Christian, it is because you have judged the person.

judged /2919 krino/ "contextually used specifically of the act of /condemning/ and /decreeing/ (or inflicting) /penalty on/ one."[3]

You have condemned that person for his~/her action and you have begun to set or inflict what you think is a proper penalty on that person.

Don't do that, unless you yourself want to be judged.

The True Judge, Jesus Christ, is very close and can hear everything that you are saying about His child that He was judged for.

You have no right to judge His child.