SPEAKER_01: If you would uh open your Bibles to the book of James, we are uh continuing our series walking through um verse by verse through the book of James or in James chapter five starting in verse seven.
SPEAKER_01: You know, in our culture we love things fast, right?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Immediate, right?
SPEAKER_01: We we can think about fast food, we can think about a microwave, as Miss Irma just said.
SPEAKER_01: We can think about I mean nowadays you can see an ad.
SPEAKER_01: This is crazy, you can see an ad on TV and you can order that product as soon as have you seen this?
SPEAKER_01: Where it's like there's a QR code or there's a put it in your cart from the TV.
SPEAKER_01: And some of these things are through Amazon are same-day delivery.
SPEAKER_01: Where you can see an ad and before the day is over, it's at the front porch.
SPEAKER_01: We love it.
SPEAKER_01: We we love that we love things that are instant and done.
SPEAKER_01: We love fast phones, right?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_01: Before, probably the loading time or waiting time on a phone would be a lot slower than nowadays.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when our phone isn't loading immediately on the thing we're trying to load, we get frustrated if it takes more than three seconds, four seconds, we're reloading, right?
SPEAKER_01: We want things immediate, it's just part of who we are.
SPEAKER_01: We love things fast, but guess what?
SPEAKER_01: We hate things that are slow, and we have to wait for like traffic and the the DMV visit or the restaurant, right?
SPEAKER_01: We were at one restaurant uh a couple a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01: Man, and I don't know how long it was like an hour and a half, like two hours waiting for our food, and there's nothing worse than just sitting there and waiting and wondering.
SPEAKER_01: And the worst of all is when the party that you came before gets their food first.
SPEAKER_01: Is that ever happened?
SPEAKER_01: And you're wondering, you're like, okay, maybe you go.
SPEAKER_01: Did you get our order?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: We're we're wondering, and we hate to wait.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes we even hate uh to wait on God.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes in our lives it feels like we're seems like God has us in a traffic jam of life.
SPEAKER_01: Waiting on God for a healing, waiting on God to restore that relationship, waiting on God to come through.
SPEAKER_01: In some way, and some of you may be feeling that.
SPEAKER_01: And so the question the text is going to answer for us today is how do we patiently endure until Christ returns?
SPEAKER_01: How do me and you patiently endure till Christ returns?
SPEAKER_01: This is exactly what James is talking about here in our passage in verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: That as Christians, we need to have patience, and that's exactly what is going on in the church that James is writing to.
SPEAKER_01: These Christians who are suffering that are in a trial, and he's telling them to be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's where you feel like you are today.
SPEAKER_01: Suffering, waiting in a trial.
SPEAKER_01: And God wants to speak to you through his word.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in reverence for his word, as is custom here in our church, let us stand in this moment for those of us who can to declare physically that we are ready to receive and honor the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: James chapter 5, starting in verse 7 through 12.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, the judge is standing at the door.
SPEAKER_01: As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophet, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: You've heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, we take this time in the moment to ask for your help.
SPEAKER_01: I ask for your help as the preacher, Lord God, that you would fill me with your spirit, and I am in utter need of you, Lord God, to preach your word rightly.
SPEAKER_01: But we ask for your help for the listener, for every single person that is hearing your word, that they would, as we sang just earlier, that we are available in this moment to hear from you.
SPEAKER_01: I pray for those who feel stuck, who feel trapped, who are struggling, Lord God, to be patient in the suffering.
SPEAKER_01: When you meet them here through your word and your spirit.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Before we dive into our passage, it's important to remember the context of the last time we were in James.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and we won't read this, but you can see there in your Bibles when we started in verses 1 through 6 two weeks ago, it was a warning to the to the rich.
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully you recall this.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, a warning and judgment on them.
SPEAKER_01: There were these rich who were taking advantage of the poor and the laborers and not paying them their wages.
SPEAKER_01: So much so that verse 6, I'll read that one there, it says this you have condemned and murdered the righteous person, he does not resist you.
SPEAKER_01: So much so that these people were murdering, killing people by withholding wages.
SPEAKER_01: Then we get to verse 7, our passage for today.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient, therefore, brothers.
SPEAKER_01: He's talking about now to these followers who were experiencing suffering from the rich before.
SPEAKER_01: So he's talking about patience in the trial.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, think about that.
SPEAKER_01: What they were going through.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, imagine that.
SPEAKER_01: Seeing other co-workers or laborers under this person that you work for who are dying.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're going hungry, maybe your family going hungry.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine what that may feel like.
SPEAKER_01: And then there in verse 7, while you're feeling all those things, James says, be patient.
SPEAKER_01: That's who he's talking to here.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient.
SPEAKER_01: But until when?
SPEAKER_01: How long should they be patient?
SPEAKER_01: James answers that in the following phrase.
SPEAKER_01: Look there, right in verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You know, something that helps us in our impatience is when we have an expectation of when it's gonna be done.
SPEAKER_01: When someone's running late, we're asking, okay, what's your ETA?
SPEAKER_01: When are you getting here?
SPEAKER_01: Or again, when the food is taking a while, when is it gonna be here?
SPEAKER_01: When we know, okay, maybe I can be a little more patient if I know the time it's coming.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes with impatience, it comes with doubt.
SPEAKER_01: Is this traffic gonna ever end?
SPEAKER_01: Is this food ever coming?
SPEAKER_01: And deep down in the back of our minds, if we're honest, we forget that Christ has promised that he will return.
SPEAKER_01: We know it intellectually, but we don't live a life that actually shows that.
SPEAKER_01: That Christ will return and make all things right and make all things new.
SPEAKER_01: So what does the patience, what does that patience for Christ's return look like?
SPEAKER_01: He gives an example.
SPEAKER_01: Look at that in James verse 7, chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, imagine this.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine a farmer.
SPEAKER_01: A farmer needs to be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: When they put that seed, it's not instantly in a couple minutes that he'll see the fruit of his work.
SPEAKER_01: And so James is saying, be patient like a farmer.
SPEAKER_01: But imagine this, imagine a farmer who puts a seed down into the soil and he waits a couple days.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's not too much rain, maybe he's a little worried, and then what he does is he goes back to where he planted that seed and he digs the seed out.
SPEAKER_01: And then he puts in a new seed.
SPEAKER_01: And the next day, okay, no rain, and he and he's waiting, and so he digs the seed out, and the next day he puts in a new seed.
SPEAKER_01: You see the problem here.
SPEAKER_01: James is calling us to be like a farmer who waits patiently for the rain to come.
SPEAKER_01: In the same way that us as believers, we in our suffering and trial where we feel like we are in a desert, dry and abandoned, to know Christ will come like the late rains.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's the first point here.
SPEAKER_01: How do we patiently endure until Christ returned?
SPEAKER_01: Verse, or first point, look forward to Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: Look forward to Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: We saw that in the first verse, verse 7, but again, James is nailing down this point here in verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: Look there, the next one.
SPEAKER_01: You also be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Establish your hearts for what?
SPEAKER_01: For the coming of the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Do you see a theme here?
SPEAKER_01: Establish your heart.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: It's a strengthening within yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Think of an anchoring of a ship, the foundation of a house.
SPEAKER_01: That there will be storms in life, but you are steady because your heart is established.
SPEAKER_01: You are looking forward for Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: It says the coming of the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: You know, there's so many conversations, and we've been hearing this for a long time.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe some of us who've been believers for a while on Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: That it's coming soon.
SPEAKER_01: And I love what James is saying here.
SPEAKER_01: He said, the coming of the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: It's coming.
SPEAKER_01: And just so you know, that was 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: But we know that we're in the last days.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the thing.
SPEAKER_01: Regardless of, because we've heard it over and over again, the signs and the things that are happening, Christ can come, and that could be very much true.
SPEAKER_01: We can have a conversation about that.
SPEAKER_01: But regardless of when he comes, James is telling these believers 2,000 years ago to live a life as if he is coming tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: That we don't know the day or the hour, that he comes like a thief in the night.
SPEAKER_01: Do you live the Christian life with longing for Christ to return?
SPEAKER_01: Is your heart established on seeing Jesus face to face one day?
SPEAKER_01: Are your eyes set to the clouds?
SPEAKER_01: Are your ears leaning in, ready to hear the trumpet sound?
SPEAKER_01: But if we're honest with ourselves, in my life, in our lives, we don't look forward to Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe in moments, but in our day-to-day, minute by minute life, we are consumed by other things.
SPEAKER_01: Because our hearts are not established in Christ's return, our hearts are established in the world.
SPEAKER_01: Because our eyes are not set on the clouds, our eyes are set on the earth below and our needs.
SPEAKER_01: Our ears are not set to hear the trumpet sound, our ears are filled with the noise of our desires and the noise of the world.
SPEAKER_01: But James is saying, listen to this, Christ is returning.
SPEAKER_01: We need to understand this.
SPEAKER_01: This is a basic idea of the Christian life that we so miss.
SPEAKER_01: To long for the return of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I want to share these verses with you so we can see this is not just here in James, this is over and over and over the word of God pressing this idea into our minds and our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: So listen to this.
SPEAKER_01: Titus chapter 2, verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Titus writes this waiting for our blessed hope.
SPEAKER_01: The appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: 2 Timothy 4.8.
SPEAKER_01: Henceforth, Paul writes this in his final letter.
SPEAKER_01: Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day.
SPEAKER_01: And not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
SPEAKER_01: Philippians 3 20.
SPEAKER_01: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 9 28.
SPEAKER_01: So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time.
SPEAKER_01: Not to deal with sin, but to save those who what?
SPEAKER_01: Who are eagerly waiting for him.
SPEAKER_01: And verse 8 of our text.
SPEAKER_01: What did it say?
SPEAKER_01: You also be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Is this what your life looks like?
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think of the best example of this is the child in the month of December.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Counting down the days for Christmas morning to receive the gift.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, we will receive a far better gift.
SPEAKER_01: That Christ will come and we will see him.
SPEAKER_01: See, James, don't miss this.
SPEAKER_01: What James is trying to do.
SPEAKER_01: We saw this in chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: The first message when we are looking at James.
SPEAKER_01: It's not on the screens, but you can see there, you can flip there in James chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet various trials.
SPEAKER_01: For you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing.
SPEAKER_01: He's going back to the idea of suffering and being patient in the midst of trials.
SPEAKER_01: James is trying to give them a resource.
SPEAKER_01: James is trying to give them a weapon to use in the suffering.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to do the same for you to know this.
SPEAKER_01: That through the physical ailment, the illness, the uh the emotional or mental brokenness in your mind or in your life, the struggles that you have gone through and walked through.
SPEAKER_01: That one day everything will be made right.
SPEAKER_01: So that you can go through anything.
SPEAKER_01: I think about this passage, Revelation 7, 16 and 17.
SPEAKER_01: It says this of Christ and his return when we see him face to face.
SPEAKER_01: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore.
SPEAKER_01: The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Disturbing thing.
SPEAKER_01: Before they read a book, they read the last pages in the last chapter of the book.
SPEAKER_01: For those of you who who know me, my wife knows this.
SPEAKER_01: I something I hate dislike.
SPEAKER_01: I almost said hate, but I'm you know, dislike is spoilers.
SPEAKER_01: So much so she got me a hat.
SPEAKER_01: There's a hat hangs in in our room that says I hate spoilers right there on the hat.
SPEAKER_01: Like so the idea of someone intentionally going to the end of a book to have a big reveal and then decide through that if they're gonna continue, uh continue reading it.
SPEAKER_01: To me, it's it defeats the purpose, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because the intention of the author is to create tension, stress.
SPEAKER_01: What will happen?
SPEAKER_01: Will they win or will they lose?
SPEAKER_01: Will they succeed or fail?
SPEAKER_01: Will they die or live?
SPEAKER_01: And if you know what happens, it kind of is just like, oh well, those moments, you won't have that stress and anxiety.
SPEAKER_01: But can I tell you a beautiful gift the Lord has given us is that He has made clear to us the end of the story that we do not need to have stress and worry whether we will live or die, win or lose.
SPEAKER_01: Because Christ died and rose again and is returning, and we will see him.
SPEAKER_01: Do you see this?
SPEAKER_01: James is giving us a weapon, a tool in the suffering to know that we can wait like the farmer.
SPEAKER_01: That we can wait, that he will come and we will see him face to face.
SPEAKER_01: Do you believe that?
SPEAKER_01: Like truly this moment.
SPEAKER_01: We will see him.
SPEAKER_01: How do we patiently endure until Christ's return?
SPEAKER_01: Look forward to Christ's return, to look forward to it, long for it.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, is this to live with integrity?
SPEAKER_01: Live with integrity.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, the judge is standing at the door.
SPEAKER_01: Notice that James is continuing with this language that Jesus is returning, it's eminent.
SPEAKER_01: He is at the door.
SPEAKER_01: James paints this picture for you and for me.
SPEAKER_01: As if we are in a courtroom and the judge seat is empty, but the judge is at the door, he can come in at any moment.
SPEAKER_01: And because the judge is coming, how are you living your life?
SPEAKER_01: Here James specifically specifically talks about the issue of grumbling, but it could be any sin in our life: lust, pride, greed.
SPEAKER_01: But grumbling.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Why grumbling?
SPEAKER_01: Because there is probably no more of a common sin in suffering than grumbling.
SPEAKER_01: To grumble about our problems.
SPEAKER_01: To grumble about our issues.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing, we can have impatience with God, but here what James is talking about as well.
SPEAKER_01: Probably the most common people that we can have impatience with is our brothers and sisters in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Don't grumble among each other.
SPEAKER_01: We can have impatience with one another.
SPEAKER_01: This Greek word for grumbling can be translated to groan, to sigh.
SPEAKER_01: It's just maybe potentially under your breath, a grumble.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, be patient with one another.
SPEAKER_01: We all fall short.
SPEAKER_01: There will be times where we will offend each other unintentionally, and there will be times where we will offend each other intentionally.
SPEAKER_01: Have good patience with one another because we will fail each other.
SPEAKER_01: As a pastor, no one is perfect, and we must be patient because all of us are just day by day sinners who have been saved, who are trying to become more like Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The judge is at the door.
SPEAKER_01: And when he walks through the door, what will he hear you say?
SPEAKER_01: Will he hear you grumbling about people in the room?
SPEAKER_01: Or will he hear you speaking words of gratitude, of grace, lifting up others?
SPEAKER_01: He is at the door.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing when the judge comes through, when we see Christ face to face, do you think that we're gonna be glad?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm glad I held on to that bitterness.
SPEAKER_01: I'm thankful I grumbled about that person.
SPEAKER_01: No, none of that will matter.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing we have to understand too is when we think about eternity, when we think about the day Christ is returning, we will not have time to bicker amongst ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Right, I think of today, this this morning, Brother Anthony, during our Sunday school time, 9 45, and the fellowship hall, I would invite you to that.
SPEAKER_01: They were talking about the Good Samaritan.
SPEAKER_01: And the Good Samaritan, you have these religious people, these three other people who walk by this man who was beaten on the side of the road.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we have to understand that as a church, as a family, when we are bickering amongst ourselves, when there's disunity amongst ourselves, it's like us grumbling against one another and walking that we miss the people in the ditch.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what the enemy wants to do.
SPEAKER_01: He wants us against one another.
SPEAKER_01: Because if he can have us against one another, then we can forget about the mission.
SPEAKER_01: We can forget about the people in need, and we know this here at the springs.
SPEAKER_01: That God wants to use us to change lives, and the way that he wants to prevent that is to put seeds of discourse amongst one another, against one another.
SPEAKER_01: It says, don't grumble.
SPEAKER_01: It says, live with integrity.
SPEAKER_01: Or doesn't say that, but the point there is live with integrity.
SPEAKER_01: Integrity is it's consistently doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
SPEAKER_01: And we know someone is always watching.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you this.
SPEAKER_01: How would your day be different if you knew Christ was coming today?
SPEAKER_01: This is what our text is trying to tell us.
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss this.
SPEAKER_01: Let this be another Sunday of going through the motions.
SPEAKER_01: What conversations would you have?
SPEAKER_01: How would you worship?
SPEAKER_01: How would you cry out?
SPEAKER_01: How would you pray?
SPEAKER_01: Who would you share the gospel of Christ with?
SPEAKER_01: In the response time when we have people that come and pray, would you come and pray?
SPEAKER_01: If you knew Christ was coming today, the judge is at the door.
SPEAKER_01: He is at the door.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 13, I love this because it so exemplifies what James is getting at here.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 13, 11 through 14.
SPEAKER_01: Besides this, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.
SPEAKER_01: For salvation is nearer.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying the day is at hand, the judge is at the door.
SPEAKER_01: Christ is coming.
SPEAKER_01: For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
SPEAKER_01: The night, oh God, help us.
SPEAKER_01: The night is far gone.
SPEAKER_01: The day is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
SPEAKER_01: Let us walk properly as in the daytime.
SPEAKER_01: Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
SPEAKER_01: But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the flesh to gratify its desires.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, it is time to wake up.
SPEAKER_01: The night is gone, day is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Put on Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Because we know in Christ's return, there's this language we see that Christ is returning for a pure bride.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what our job is for me, for Pastor Jeff, for anyone who comes on to this pulpit, but specifically the pastors of this church, as Paul talks about to the churches he writes to, that we are preparing all of you for the day of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: That Paul says that for the shepherds, for the elders of the church, that is our responsibility to present you holy and clean.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we are made holy and clean by faith in Christ and through his blood, but there's a standard in which we should walk in.
SPEAKER_01: That grace should change us.
SPEAKER_01: Third point.
SPEAKER_01: How do we patiently endure until Christ's return?
SPEAKER_01: First one was this: look forward to Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: Live with integrity.
SPEAKER_01: Third, learn from the faithful.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 10 and 11.
SPEAKER_01: As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard of the steadfastness of Job.
SPEAKER_01: You have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
SPEAKER_01: One of the best things we can do to help us in our patience and suffering when everything around us is crumbling, is by looking at brothers and sisters in the faith from the past and the present, who are faithful in the midst of it.
SPEAKER_01: And James here, he brings up the example of Job.
SPEAKER_01: For some of us, we know this story: Job, who lost everything.
SPEAKER_01: Everything.
SPEAKER_01: His wealth, his livestock, his home, his children, his health and body.
SPEAKER_01: Everything.
SPEAKER_01: And what does he say?
SPEAKER_01: Blessed be the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He gives.
SPEAKER_01: And he takes away.
SPEAKER_01: Naked into this world I came.
SPEAKER_01: And naked I go.
SPEAKER_01: He was enduring in the suffering.
SPEAKER_01: We could look at Job, but look at a common or a story I heard recently online.
SPEAKER_01: A Christian lawyer shares this story.
SPEAKER_01: He was asked and invited to speak at an all-black church, and this was a white Christian lawyer who was coming there.
SPEAKER_01: And before the service began, he sat down in one of the pews, and an older lady walked in, sat behind, beside him, smiled, and said hello.
SPEAKER_01: And he smiled back.
SPEAKER_01: Then she looked at him and said, He said, What are you doing here, white boy?
SPEAKER_01: And it was an endearment.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't in, if you listen to him share it, it wasn't no offense, but just a curiosity of being uh in all black church, he was just wondering why he was there.
SPEAKER_01: And he laughed and said, Well, I'm preaching this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And she looked at him straight in the eyes and asked, You got the stuff?
SPEAKER_01: And and he was caught off guard.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I bet I beg your pardon.
SPEAKER_01: And she said, If the preacher ain't got the stuff, we don't have church.
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't have it, you sit right down here and let somebody else get it up there that does.
SPEAKER_01: So you got it or not?
SPEAKER_01: And he's he said, Well, I got the stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Then she smiled and said, Did they tell you how we do church around here?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, No.
SPEAKER_01: She said, Well, let me tell you this.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna start on time and we're gonna have worship for about an hour long, and sometimes even longer.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Do you like to sing?
SPEAKER_01: And he smiled and yes.
SPEAKER_01: Not too convincingly.
SPEAKER_01: And she continues, he says, Then we have a time of testimony where people stand up, they tell them about what God's delivered them from, and sometimes they'll even admit to uh crimes that they've done.
SPEAKER_01: And she says, You haven't committed any crimes, have you?
SPEAKER_01: And the preacher says, No.
SPEAKER_01: Because what they'll do is some people who've even committed crimes in that moment, they will send them to uh to the police to keep them accountable.
SPEAKER_01: Anyways, let me keep going.
SPEAKER_01: She says, After that, we take the offering.
SPEAKER_01: You love to give, don't you?
SPEAKER_01: At that point, he was thinking, whatever's in my wallet is probably gonna be gone today.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just and then she became serious.
SPEAKER_01: She said this.
SPEAKER_01: Then comes the preacher after all that.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, church, listen to this.
SPEAKER_01: She says, Then comes the preacher.
SPEAKER_01: She says, Listen to me, we didn't come to get out.
SPEAKER_01: Did you hear that?
SPEAKER_01: We didn't come to get out, we came to go to church.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever God has given you, don't cut it short.
SPEAKER_01: If you come to church to get out, why do you come to church at all?
SPEAKER_01: She didn't say that.
SPEAKER_01: That's just to us in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Then she asked one final favor.
SPEAKER_01: Could you slide over?
SPEAKER_01: He moved over and asked, Is someone else coming?
SPEAKER_01: She said, No, I just need room.
SPEAKER_01: He asked, room for what?
SPEAKER_01: She smiled and said, Because when I start singing, I need my space.
SPEAKER_01: Then she she said something that he would never forget.
SPEAKER_01: I'm addicted to praising him.
SPEAKER_01: I don't just like praising him, I adore it.
SPEAKER_01: It's the passion of my life.
SPEAKER_01: And the service began, and she sang with tears streaming down her face.
SPEAKER_01: And before long, the preacher was crying himself.
SPEAKER_01: He couldn't explain it, but the passion was contagious.
SPEAKER_01: And after the service, the pastor, he asked the pastor, the guest preacher that was there, he said, Who is that woman?
SPEAKER_01: And the pastor said, That's Sister Abby.
SPEAKER_01: Then the pastor asked the preacher, he says, Did she tell you her story?
SPEAKER_01: And the guest preacher says, No.
SPEAKER_01: The pastor said, just a couple years ago, her husband and her two junior high boys were walking to the bus stop when they were murdered.
SPEAKER_01: And I met her at the hospital and asked Abby, what do you want to do?
SPEAKER_01: And she replied, let's have church.
SPEAKER_01: I need to get my passion back.
SPEAKER_01: Then the pastor added, she also has stage four cancer and can't afford the medicine she needs.
SPEAKER_00: And the preacher is done.
SPEAKER_00: Because he said she never told me any of that.
SPEAKER_00: All she talked about was Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: The preacher left in this moment changed forever and said, I want to be like her.
SPEAKER_01: Would anybody want to be like you?
SPEAKER_01: When people watch your life in the midst of suffering, do they see your heart anchored, established in the Lord in his coming?
SPEAKER_01: Longing to see him, desiring him.
SPEAKER_01: Choose faithful in the midst of trials.
SPEAKER_01: And God calls us to do the same.
SPEAKER_01: We learn from the faithful, those of the past, those of the present.
SPEAKER_01: Fourth point.
SPEAKER_01: Lean on God's mercy and compassion.
SPEAKER_01: We saw that in verse 11.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard the steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: How the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
SPEAKER_01: That despite all you may walk through, that God is good.
SPEAKER_01: That God is good and that he is for you.
SPEAKER_01: That if even when it doesn't make any sense at all, that he is merciful and he is compassionate and will never understand.
SPEAKER_01: But the word is clear, and we can trust the word that he is merciful and compassionate, even as these again believers James is writing to are in the midst of suffering and probably not understanding why.
SPEAKER_01: And we can trust that not only because of his because of the word, but also what the word says in Hebrews 12.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll ask the band to come up as we close.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 12 1 through 2.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
SPEAKER_01: So there's this call for patience, this call for endurance.
SPEAKER_01: And then verse 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
SPEAKER_01: You want to know?
SPEAKER_01: Do you want to know if God is merciful and compassionate?
SPEAKER_01: You look to the cross.
SPEAKER_01: You want to see patience and endurance?
SPEAKER_01: You look to the God man Christ, who carried the cross.
SPEAKER_01: For you and for me, struggling, who endured for the joy that was set before him.
SPEAKER_01: And we know what that joy is.
SPEAKER_01: Firstly, it's glorifying his father, being obedient to submit.
SPEAKER_01: But the joy was purchasing a bride, a people, you and me, the joy set before him.
SPEAKER_01: He thought about you and me.
SPEAKER_01: And in that we can trust that he is ultimately good.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 12, last verse.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: So that you may not fall under condemnation.
SPEAKER_01: This verse kind of feels out of place here.
SPEAKER_01: But really, I think he may be referring back to the rich in verses 1 through 6 who are taking advantage of others who are promising their wages, saying yes, but then not following through.
SPEAKER_01: And this goes back to the standard for us to live with integrity, to be honest, that we would be like God who is faithful and true.
SPEAKER_01: I hope you can see this in this moment as we close those two passages that we've been talking about.
SPEAKER_01: There's the verses one through six, where there is judgment on the rich, that when the judge comes, there will be condemnation.
SPEAKER_01: And then our verses of seven through twelve that when the judge comes, there will be compassion and mercy.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to ask you, are you ready?
SPEAKER_01: Because the judge is at the door, and either you are saved under the blood of Christ, not because of anything you've done, and when he comes, there is mercy and compassion.
SPEAKER_01: Or if you're trusting in yourself, in your religion, in your goodness, there is judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna give you an opportunity that you can be saved, you can come down, and someone will be here to explain the gospel to you.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, are you longing for his return?
SPEAKER_01: Are you distracted?
SPEAKER_01: This is the time to just We were gonna close with a different song, but I asked if we could just do that song we did and say, God, I'm available.
SPEAKER_01: God, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: I've been distracted.
SPEAKER_01: I haven't been longing for your coming.
SPEAKER_01: I haven't been thinking about it.
SPEAKER_01: I've been distracted by work.
SPEAKER_01: I've been distracted by things that at the end of the day don't matter for eternity.
SPEAKER_01: And we're saying, here we are.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Here we are.
SPEAKER_01: We did not come here to church to leave.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to speak in that moment because there's so many of us who are ready for the next thing, the next plan, the next engagement, the next, and say, God, deal with us.
SPEAKER_01: Deal with us, God.
SPEAKER_01: God forgive us.
SPEAKER_01: God, forgive me.
SPEAKER_01: And we would say, God, here we are.
SPEAKER_01: I hear your voice, God.
SPEAKER_01: Speak to us in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray if there's anyone in this room who is not saved, that they would come under you, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They would call out to you to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: We pray and ask all these things in Jesus' name.