James Part 5
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Welcome
Recap series
Pray
We have been focusing on spiritual maturity. What it is, what it looks like, how you get it but we are going to wrap up this series talking about how:
Spiritual Maturity doesn’t happen overnight
Spiritual Maturity doesn’t happen overnight
As a believer our spiritual maturity isn’t shown through what new pieces of Jesus we can see.
It isn’t shown through fresh revelation that no one else has ever gotten.
Spiritual maturity is gained through daily growth toward becoming more and more like Jesus.
We can’t just one day become wise enough
We don’t one day become humble enough
We patiently endure the life that Christ has laid out for us. Chasing after Him with all we have.
God’s word is alive and there are constantly new things we are learning about the character of God but the spiritually mature doesn’t give up on the things they’ve learned to find something new.
New believer
The way we achieve spiritual maturity is through patient endurance.
7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
James is addressing the suffering of the saints. It was his aim at the beginning of his letter James 1:1-5
and it’s his aim here as he begins his conclusion.
In the previous verses James teaches us the opposite of the prosperity gospel.
He is chastising the rich for the way they have treated others.
Because of that, believers who suffer at the hands of the rich should be patient.
And our patience is not in hope for something, but for someone.
The word coming translates the Gk. parousia which means arrive or presence of someone
So his readers would have understood, the Lord’s coming to refer to Jesus’ return as Judge and savior
James is urging us to be patient.
makrothymeo - Patient, to remain tranquil while waiting
But the question we must answer is: How can we as believers experience this kind of patience as we wait for the Lord to return?
To answer that James gives us some illustrations
7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.
He uses the farmer as an illustration
As the farmer put in a lot of effort and work to prepare the ground and sow the seed he must wait for the crop.
He can do very little to effect the outcome but must be patient and wait for the right rain at the right time.
Autumn and spring can be better translated to early and later.
James readers being biblically literate, would have detected this language as an echo from the OT and it would have reminded them of the biblical theme of God’s faithfulness.
14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.
24 They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
23 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
1 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.
So James is reminding his readers. Just like the Lord has been faithful in sending the rains He is faithful to return.
James then urges us to be like the farmer
8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Stand firm could be translated to “strengthen your hearts.”
So although we are called to be patient, James is commanding us to fortify ourselves against the struggle of sin and difficult circumstances.
James then, at first glance, takes a left turn
9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
Now you may think, “What does grumbling against one another” have to do with being patient through suffering.
What’s your first inclination when something doesn’t go right in your life?
What did Israel do in the desert when things didn’t go the way they had hoped?
What did James teach us about the power our words have in James 3:1-12?
What does he say in
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
So, patience is seen through what we choose to do but is also seen through the things we choose not to do.
When things come in life that we didn't plan for, when life throws you a curve, when difficulties arise our nature would tell us to lash out. To talk poorly of someone or God. To go to facebook to let the world know of your anger.
But as believers we must choose not to give into that. Instead we choose to rest in the Lord. To find our peace in Him and His faithfulness
James then gives us two more illustrations of patience
10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
James does not specify what prophets he has in mind. But we may naturally think of someone like Jeremiah who suffered greatly at both the hands of pagan kings and his own people
We also are reminded of Isaiah who died a martyr by being sawed in two.
There was nothing glamorous, by wordly standards, about being a prophet. Many endured great hardships and sufferings and often died because of their faith and their unwillingness to stop teaching and speaking of God.
And then James reminds us of something in verse 11
11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
“We count as blessed those who have persevered.”
Jesus said in Matt 5:11-12
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
James begins to now use a different word. He is now speaking about perseverance.
It’s the GK. word hypomeno: remain, stay, reside
Patience (makrothymeo) typically is focused on the way we deal with others during difficulties. It can be shown in the moment.
Perseverance (hypomeno) typically is focused on the way we deal with our circumstances during difficulties. It can be shown at the end.
So patience can be seen as how we act and respond.
To persevere is to trust in the Lord at all times, through all things, until the end.
And when we do that, we are blessed.
It’s not in reference to the state of our emotions but to state of our relationship with God
Then James ends with the illustration of Job.
Now if we read Job you probably wouldn’t read Job and think he was patient.
Story of Job
You see Job maybe as self-righteous.
You see him demanding answers for his unjust suffering from the Lord
So Job may not be the best example of patience but what you do see Job do is persevere.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter of James C. Patiently Enduring Trials Earns God’s Reward (5:7–11)
Job struggled and questioned, and sometimes even defied, but the flame of faith was never extinguished in his heart.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Although Job suffered, and he suffered greatly, it was not without purpose.
5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job’s suffering “brought about” a revelation of God he would have never experience had it not been for his suffering.
Your present suffering is not the end of the story. God will transform your situation for good when Christ is revealed in glory
God is at work in all things. And if we persevere then we can truly understand
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Why? Because “the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
To move forward in our spiritual maturity we must learn to be still
To move forward in our spiritual maturity we must learn to be still
James has taught us the things we must do, the things we must say, the things that should motivate us and as we strive after those things life still happens. Difficulties still arise. Family members get sick and die. Businesses suffer and close down. People around us let us down.
James ends his letter with, as you pursue spiritual maturity there will be things that you can not control. Don’t allow your response to those things deter you from what God has for you.
We are actively pursuing God. We are actively seeking wisdom. We are actively living out our faith. We are actively humbling ourselves before him in repentance.
But we must also learn how to be still
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Let’s not be a people who’s immediate response to struggle is to grumble and complain.
Let’s not be a people who’s immediate response to difficulties is to throw in the towel and throw our hands in the air.
Let us learn how to “be still and know that He is God.”
He didn’t give up on us when He would have been completely just in doing so.
He persevered the cross on our behalf. So let’s be a people who persevere through the struggles of this world to experience the blessing of knowing Him.