Patience and Perseverance are Practical

 Like a seasoned farmer waits for his crops to grow from the earth in its time, so Christians are to be patient as we wait until the coming of the Lord. We are to persevere as the prophets did and be counted blessed with all who endure. 

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Podcast 55 Transcript

(This is a computer generated transcript of this podcast.  This is NOT a typed transcript and it has not been edited. Expect grammatical and syntactical errors.)

Hello, and good day. I am B. R. Maul, and you are listening to the podcast, Living God's Way in an Ungodly World. It's nice to have you joining me today. The Teaching of God's Word. It's so important as you know for those who have been listening with me for some time now That's what we mainly do is read God's word and verse by verse Go over what it means.

Why is this so important? It's so important because in the world that we live in today, many people are not reading God's Word, whether they find it to be too boring because we live in a world that wants to be entertained, or perhaps they feel that going to church every Sunday is enough, or hundreds of other reasons. Well, maybe I should say excuses. Because every Christian needs to be in God's Word. There is only one way to know Him. And that is to read His word. So if a person isn't reading His word, and only going by what they have been taught and told by others, and yes, beloved, pastors and priests are considered others, because we're all just human. No one is higher above somebody else. No one's been given some special gift to interpret God's Word. Every believer who is born again that has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is given the ability to understand and know what the Lord is saying through His Word. 

So we'll go right into today's reading, James chapter 5, and I'll read verses 7 through 12. Then we'll go back. And, verse by verse, we'll unpack it, starting in verse 7. 

Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth, or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes. And your no, no, lest you fall into judgment. 

Pray with me. Heavenly Father, I ask you for guidance. During this teaching, only that of the Holy Spirit reaches out to those who are listening to this message. Let not my own opinion, my own biases, Get in the way close my lips if it is for my own benefit And I pray for those who are hearing this message help them Lord to bring down any walls They may have Defending themselves against whatever fear they may have of just learning Who you and your son are take down the pride and open their hearts and in Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

Let's go ahead and get into the reading. The first word in verse seven is therefore. So for those who were not here for the teaching of the beginning of chapter five, verses 1 through 6, I will just summarize. Because Paul talks about rich oppressors in those verses. Paul, I'm sorry, that's James, is letting the readers know, among those who are rich, they need to be aware. They are on notice. Money itself is not a bad thing. Having money is not a bad thing, and having money certainly is not a sin. Not at all. We use money as a tool. And when used properly, the Lord will continue to bless His children who are using money. The tools wisely that he gives them, and money being among that.

But to the rich oppressors, those who are cheating, taking advantage of people, doing whatever they can do to make themself more rich, that is who James addressed in versus one through six because of these ritual oppressors that they are stealing from the poor. James lets us know that some of the things that's going on.

These people who would work hard in their fields, and plant, and mow the fields, and the reapers. They were cheating them, they weren't giving them the money that they were due. So when I look back at that, I think who James was talking to specifically are the followers of Christ who are living this life.

I'm thinking it's more the ones who are being taken advantage of. The reason I say that is because right after the word, therefore, in verse 7, James says, Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. So after all this going over about being cheated and the corruptness of wealthy people that were oppressing those who are poor or less off than they are.

The Christians, then, would have felt that impact, and so he's specifically talking to brethren, born again believers. This does not apply to those who are not born again. James was not talking to them. Well, why is that? Because without the Holy Spirit, the human heart is going to do whatever it needs to be comfortable and secure.

All of us, before being born again, fall into the trap of having to do whatever it takes to survive. Because we have hope in nothing else, or no one else. We may be living hope just with our own selves, or those of family members, loved ones, a spouse, whoever it may be, but that hope is not the hope that born again believers have in Jesus Christ.

I hope that makes sense. Because James is saying, therefore, because of being oppressed, because of being taken advantage of, be patient, he says, until the coming of the Lord. So the coming of the Lord. This shows us there's a time stamp there because the word until the coming of the Lord. So there's no maybe. It's certainly coming. And the advice then is wait. On the Lord, until he comes. Now that is hope that we can grab onto, because hope in Jesus Christ is not the kind of hope that we have in other people or things. So whether we have hope in our jobs, hope in our businesses. Hope in loved ones that they'll take care of us.

All that hope. It's not a true hope. It's not the kind of hope that we have knowing that Jesus is coming. Knowing that we have life eternal with him in heaven. Because hope in everyone and everything else, there's always a what if factor. What if I lose my job? What if business suddenly isn't doing well? What if the person or the people that I love and care for, they die, they get sick, or they decide they no longer want to be with me? There's a lot of what ifs outside of Jesus. So living in a world that is oppressing us, we get to look to the Lord Jesus and on his coming, continuing, see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. Let's think about that for a moment. Myself, I'm not a farmer, but I know enough about farming that there's a lot of patience involved. But let's even go further and, and instead of thinking of farming in our modern day, let's go back to the time that James is talking about.

Because in this time period, a farmer waiting on the precious fruit of the earth, that was a whole lot different. And that's the kind of waiting that we're told. to have that patience because here the farmer is waiting for the early and latter rain. So when the crop first goes in and the first rain and it starts to come up all the way Until the last rain and it's ready for harvest a lot of things in there to wait for and that's the patience that we need to have because farmers in ancient times had very little for them to do other than wait for the earth to give its fruit.

Yes, you're going to keep busy making sure there's weeds and bugs and animals that stay away from the crop, but for the actual fruit to come out of the earth, there's nothing more they can do. And yes, even in today's time, sure, we have technology to help with certain aspects, but ultimately, it's still the earth that has to produce the fruit. So James is saying, look, with all the oppression going on, with all the things that are happening around us, he's saying, beloved, just like that farmer is waiting for the earth to do its thing. We are waiting on the Lord Jesus to do his thing. Verse eight, you also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Alright. So he tells us. Like the farmer you also be patient, but he says establish your hearts Here's where things are a little different when it comes to waiting as we do here on earth as we wait For whatever it might be Sometimes we're just sitting and doing nothing as we wait. So maybe we're waiting in line That tends to happen a lot, especially for those of you who live in cities. Go to the grocery store, pick your stuff out, and wait in line. Not much you can do, right, when you're just waiting. But in this sense, we are to establish our hearts. Okay, so this is an act of waiting. We're not to just wait on the Lord and do whatever we want, kind of just lay around and do nothing, or think like the world does, and we're going to just have as much fun as we can, and we're going to try to have life as easy as possible.

No. Because remember, we always check the Bible with the Bible. And before Jesus left, he told us all to go out to all the nations, making disciples. So if we are to make disciples, well, we can't do that just trying to have an easy life and having fun. Now, there can be a lot of joy, and should be a lot of joy, as we go out and make disciples.

But we have work to do. So when we are establishing our hearts, how do we do that? Well, as we walk with the Lord. We read his word every day. We pray to him every day. We get together. with other brothers and sisters in the faith, as often as we can, because we are to talk to one another, confess our faults with one another.

As James will say in our next teaching, not confession as some know it in Catholicism. Not like that. No, nowhere in the Bible does it teach that we need to be forgiven by someone else. No, the blood of Christ did that. But confessing our faults with one another. That means coming together and just talking about how things are going.

The last time I met with a Christian friend, we were sitting down and just sharing our recent experiences with one another, and things that each of us are struggling with. And we shared that with one another, and then when we were done visiting, we prayed. And that was very uplifting. So, that is also how we establish our hearts with other Christians.

And we establish our hearts when we worship the Lord. So whether it's going to church and worshiping, or worshiping Him each and every day, in everything that we do, we do it unto the Lord. And we give Him thanks. What that looks like is different every day for every person. And, of course, the last part of verse 8, For the coming of the Lord is at hand.

I want to just quickly go to Philippians chapter 3 verse 20, talking about waiting on the Lord and that his coming is at hand. Because Philippians chapter 3 verse 20 reads, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then verse 21, Who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to his glorious body.

So this is why we are waiting on Jesus. Because our citizenship isn't here. Our citizenship is in heaven. That's where we belong. And that's why, beloved, walking with the Lord, we never feel at home anymore, here on earth. Of course we feel comfortable being with our family and friends. We all have our places that we feel comfortable with, but it doesn't last long. Whether it's something in the news that reminds us that this world is unraveling, that is falling apart, and is ruled by Satan, or maybe it's just what we hear that's going around our community, something that happens with one of our relationships, I can go on and on. The point being is, our home isn't here, and we are reminded of that continuously.

So, that is why James says establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. So we have work to do, but we also know he's coming, and we wait anxiously because we know that reward that comes with him. It is absolutely beautiful and wonderful. Verse 9, Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.

Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Now this one, I really have to sit and think about. When he says, Do not grumble against one another. Lest you be condemned. It also has a footnote because instead of condemned, the word judge is sometimes used. Lest you be judged. It's important we understand this condemned or being judged has nothing to do with losing one's salvation.

I think we can see this in both sides of the coin. Now, after all, James is talking to brethren, because he even said, Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. And I think that is James telling us that as we are actively waiting for the Lord to return, and we are establishing our hearts, so we should be walking with the Lord. That there's no room for grumbling with one another because we are to be doing just the opposite. We are told over and over to love one another. In fact, Jesus made it pretty easy. He said, first and foremost, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might. And just second to that, love your neighbor as yourself. Without love, we're nothing. That without love, we're like crashing cymbals. We're just a bunch of noise. We're just wasting space. And if a person is living that way, now that's the person who needs to double check themselves. Make sure they are a born again believer. They're not just living life thinking they're a Christian based on anything else other than being born again.

There are many who think, hey, I was baptized as a baby, I'm good to go. Or, I've always just known God, never really had a relationship with Him, but in my family, we've always just known God. We go to church, that's our thing, we pray before dinner. Whatever the reason may be, but for somebody who lives the life of just grumbling, complaining, and not being grateful, we need to keep that in check.

But what he's saying to the born again believers, his brethren, lest you be condemned, because he says, Behold, the Judge, capital J, is standing at the door. Jesus is going to be here any moment. There's nothing else that needs to happen in order for the rapture to occur. And do we want to be in a position when our Lord comes, He catches us in the middle of just complaining and bickering, especially about our, our brothers and sisters, maybe living a life, not even helping one another out?

Just because we are born again and our salvation is sealed, it doesn't mean that God still won't discipline us. It's as simple as that. And knowing that Jesus is coming, that alone, beloved, should be enough to keep us as Christians behaving ourselves. He goes on in verse 10, My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience.

I really like that because James is saying okay, let's take a look at others who were before us and who were placed in situations where they needed to lean on the Lord. The Lord would use the prophets in the Old Testament to speak to his people. When I was a little boy, I remember thinking about prophets, these important people that had this enormous power because God would speak through them.

I mean, everybody had to have been afraid of them. Everybody had to have been respectful of them. But I was so wrong, because I'm amazed. And just how bad many of the prophets were treated most of the time. It's like pastors these days, an act of Christians. Think about it. Oftentimes, they don't want the prophets hanging around them. They don't want to have to behave themselves, right? It's easier to not have the prophets around. He even says, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. As much suffering as the prophets went through, they had to endure great patience. And we're called to do the same thing, because this message is to us.

So what excuse do we have not to be patient when so many others before us have endured suffering because of following Jesus? Or, in the Old Testament, following the Lord and doing what is right. Verse 11, Indeed, we count them blessed who endure, who have heard of the perseverance of Job, and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate, and will and merciful.

And so indeed, all are blessed who endure. Job, he too endured a lot of suffering. I mean, wow. Have you read the book of Job? That poor guy lost everything and everyone. He lost his children. He lost all of his wealth. He lost his health. And the only person that was left is his wife, and even his wife at some point said, why don't you just be done with it? Curse God and die. So James brings up Job, because talk about perseverance. It is Job's perseverance, his long suffering, that got him through it. But he didn't curse God. He didn't turn his back on God. Verse 12. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth, or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest you fall into judgment.

The judgment talked about here is hypocrisy. James is talking about this because at this time, and we can relate in our modern time, people who were swearing by heaven or swearing an oath or whatever it might be, they weren't living up to it. Do you think we have that problem today? It's horrendous. Today, even signing a contract doesn't mean anything. It should. When we sign a legal contract, that contract should protect us. But often, what happens, it only protects these contracts, those who have contracts. More money that can pay for better or more attorneys. So these days, it's the wealth. And so even signing a contract, I'm very reluctant. Because more and more people just don't care and they'll do whatever needs to be done, including not abiding by the contract. Can you imagine a world where when somebody says yes, it's a yes? I mean, that's it? Maybe a handshake? I don't know. Are you going to buy this house for me? Yes, I will buy the house. Done deal. Yes, I will come work for you. Yes, I will hire you.

All these yeses should just be our yes. And, of course, no is no. So, in other words, James is telling us As children of God, that should be binding. We shouldn't have to make an oath, swear on to anyone or anything. And yes, in modern times, we do have contracts. But as a Christian, we are not going to renege on those contracts, even if we don't like how it turns out.

We will honor the contract. We're not going to cheat. We're not going to lie. We're not going to make excuses. We're not going to cut corners. Nope. Our yes is our yes, and no is no. Well, so there we have it. Those are verses 7 through 12 in chapter 5. We are getting pretty close. Looks like we'll be able to finish the book of James the next time that we go through this study and I look forward to that.

You're welcome to go to my website. That's brmaul.com. And if you'd like to be able to read the transcript, I have also posted the transcript for each episode on the website at brmaul.com. Remember, beloved, keep in God's word each and every day. He loves you so much. Pray to him. Talk to him every single day.

Devote your life to him each and every day. Do what he has given you to do in life. Focus on that. Our time here is so short. There's much work to be done here. We'll have eternity to do all kinds of other stuff. Right now, there's a lot of souls out there who don't know Jesus and who are heading down the wrong path.

And if you don't know Jesus as your Savior, don't wait another minute. If you're listening to this, Well, then you're seeking, you're wanting to know more, but you don't need to know more to have faith. That's what faith is all about, taking a step, just knowing basics without knowing everything. None of us know everything about the Lord, not even close.

That's all you need to know is that Jesus Christ died for you. He died for everybody on that cross. That doesn't mean that everybody is going to heaven, but it does mean that everybody who believes on Jesus Christ confesses with their lips that he is Lord and believes in their heart that the Heavenly Father raised him from the grave.

That's all one needs to do. So go to Him. Just ask Him. There's no magical prayer. If you have any questions, I would love to be able to help you out. Just go to my website. There's a place there you can contact me. Send me that information. Or you can also write to me. I have a post office box. You can put the letter in there. And as long as you leave a way to get a hold of you, well then I'll get a hold of you. It's my honor to do so.

So until next time.

God bless.

Songs

“Heroes Inspire Hope” and “Mountainscape” by Humans Win

 “A Morning Breeze” by Boris Skalsky