Setting The Stage: James 5

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My name is Michael. I'm one of the pastors here. So grateful you're all with us. If this is your first time in attendance here at Coppel Bible, I want you to know I truly am honored that you're with us today. And my prayer for you is the same prayer for anyone else that's in this building. And it's that uh today, through the opening of God's word, you would be encouraged. That you wouldn't just have something, it feels great, and off you go tomorrow, but you'd have something to encourage your faith to stir it up. And so as we come to the end of James, we have this sermon in next week, and we're looking at the last chapter, James chapter five. And as we get into it, what we're gonna see is James is actually bringing something up this morning that I gotta be honest, it is so exciting to talk about. Like, I'm so amped up to tell you this sermon. I've been thinking about this for so long because it's so crucial. What James is gonna talk about this morning isn't just an exciting topic, it's something that we all deal with daily. In fact, it's something that some of us probably need to get a lot better in. So, good news we're talking about this exciting thing this morning. Are you ready to hear what we're talking

Why Patience Matters In Discipleship

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about? Uh, today I get to present a sermon on patience. On patience. So, aren't you glad you're here this morning at Coppel Bible? Nothing better you can do on a Sunday morning than open up God's word to be lectured by someone about patience. Better hang on to your bootstraps. We're getting wild this morning as we talk about patience. But James has been talking about patience throughout his entire letter. In fact, he's ending it here in chapter 5 as he began it in chapter 1. Verses 2, 3, and 4 of chapter 1. James says this, and I think we all agree with this. He says that trials are gonna come. Has anybody been through some trials? In one this morning, in one this past week? No one's coming to know that one's coming tomorrow morning at work. We got trials. He says trials are gonna come. We all agree. But he says for believers, for disciples of Jesus, they are coming to test our faith. They're coming to test our faith. He goes on to say that that testing will produce patience. Now it doesn't mean just because you're tested, patience is automatically produced. You've got to do your part and allow God to do his. And as you are under or in the trial, if you can remain patient, then that patience will mature. And he says it can mature, and there's this beautiful encouragement he gives. If you can let that patience mature, he says you'll be complete, lacking nothing as a disciple of the Lord. Meaning patience isn't just a virtue, though it is. Patience isn't just a characteristic, though it is. Patience is actually a part of discipleship. Patience is a part of discipleship. A disciple is someone who's trying to learn God's ways, follow God's timing, God's wisdom, God's pace. And in order to do that, it's gonna require biblical patience.

The Candle: A Picture Of Steady Faith

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And to picture the kind of uh patient faith that I believe James wants us to see this morning, I brought this candle. Anyone hear a candle person? Um, supposedly I found out not long ago that candles are toxic for you, and I kind of just brushed it off because at this point of life, what isn't? Everything's trying to take us out. One day it's don't do this, the next day it's if you do that, you're gonna be fine. Don't doing it, it's gonna kill you. And you're like, I don't know the truth anymore. So pick your poison, okay? Pick your poison. And I look at it and I go, by the way, this is a beeswax candle, which means it has a higher frequency. And I have no idea what that means, but that's what it said when they sold it to me. So it's better for you, I guess. It negates the toxicity. But I like a candle, and I'm sure we all have candles this time of the year. I feel like it's a time where candles are out and about, right? And we're watching candles and we're looking at them, and we have fireplaces and all these things. And I look at this. What I love about a candle is the flame is steady. The flame doesn't go any faster. The flame doesn't get nervous when the darkness comes in like it is right now. It doesn't shy away from the darkness. It's not cowering because it's scared, but it's also not trying to speed up. Oh my gosh, it's getting dark. What are we gonna do? It just stays steady, it just stays patient, it burns faithfully. And I believe this is the type of faith James is encouraging God's people to live out a steady, patient faith. In fact, I think it's a faith that needs to learn to wait. I've titled this message A Faith That Waits. A faith that waits. And what we're gonna see in the few verses

Patience With People: Establish Your Heart

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we have this morning is there are three kinds of patience that a faith that waits needs. The first is patience with people. Amen. No, not you you're good with people? Okay, we'll just skip that part then. It must not be uh pertinent to us. No, we all have to have and be better about patience with people. The next thing is patience in trials or circumstances and things that happen that some of you even are feeling the stress of today and right now. And then lastly, is we're gonna hear about patience in our words. And so let's walk through this together verse by verse. We're gonna start in James chapter 5, verses 7 through 9 to begin. If you have a Bible, I'd love for you to open it. If you don't have a Bible, not just here, but like in your possession, come find me after the service. I'd love to give you one. But if you want to just look, it'll be on the screen too. We're gonna see James talk about how to have patience with people here in these few verses. This is what he says, James 5, 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 the latter rain. So 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. James begins this section out about patience with people with two words. I think all of us, if we were honest, wish weren't in the Bible. Be patient. Anybody got kids? I feel like that line is on repeat at my household right now. Hey, be patient, okay? Be patient, okay? This is what James says here in verse 7. And the word he uses for patience, we need to define. It's not just a passive waiting back and doing nothing. It's not a try to stay calm. It's not a okay, count to 10 and breathe before you say something you're gonna regret, though that's a good principle. You should put it in your back pocket because it's good to use. But this isn't what he's talking about here. He's talking about a biblical patience. That means this type of patience is different than worldly just understanding of patience. This is deeper, it's richer, and that's because it is a spiritual gift. The definition I think I would use for patience, just to kind of wrap our minds around, would be this. Patience is long suffering, it's spirit formed and it's faith-anchored, endurance. So it's long suffering because as we read in James chapter 1, when trials come, there's a purpose in those. And yes, it's suffering for a reason. It's not fun to feel the pressure or the weight. But it's long-suffering because we know if we stay under it, it will be better for us because God is using it to develop us. So can we be long-suffering? And the good news is the difference between human regular patience and spirit patience is this middle section. It's spirit formed. You got the gift of the Holy Spirit in you after you've placed your faith in Jesus for everlasting life. Meaning, human patience run thins and runs out. But godly Holy Spirit patience is a fruit of the spirit that can keep coming back. It can keep getting refilled. You can get more and more of it. And it's not about you doing it, it's about the Holy Spirit doing it in you and through you. And then there's a faith-anchored endurance. And James is going to talk about this here in a moment, that we can, under pressure, anchor our minds, our heart, our faith on something, and it will help us as we're in this trial. And we'll talk about that in a moment. So he begins this section with talking about patience towards people. Now, you need to know the word he uses here in these verses for patience, it always is used in the New Testament when speaking about patience with people. When we get to verses 10 and 11, though, you'll see the word patience, and it's actually addressing circumstances and situations. So he really is being specific about us understanding how to be patient with people. He must have known the holidays were coming up, and he must have known Thanksgiving dinner's coming, and this is a perfect message for this week for all of us. So I started thinking about it, and I was like, why do you think we lose patience? I started examining my own life and I thought, man, what are ways in which I've just said I can't handle anymore? And I've just let the patience go. And I think it's not because we're weak. I don't

Anchor To The Horizon: Christ’s Return

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think it's that. I know trials are hard and they're not fun. I don't think we give in because we're weak. I actually think we give in because we can't see an end in sight. So we we don't know how long we're gonna be in the trial. And so if we knew it was tomorrow, I can last a day. Oh yeah, this is nothing. And maybe it is tomorrow, but we just don't know the answer. Maybe it's in five years. I don't know. But since we don't have an in line or a horizon, then when trials come, we like to get out. Because I we don't know how long this is gonna last. Which is why James is encouraging those he's writing to who are in a season that they did not choose to stay faithful and patient with the Lord and to trust him. When you can't see a horizon, we tend to do some things. Now, show of hands if you've ever done this. I'm kidding, don't show your hands if you've ever done this. When you can't see the horizon, we tend to panic. We tend to rush, make rash decisions. We grasp for control. We definitely make emotional decisions. A lot of times we wish we could take back after they're made. We try to fix everything ourselves. We get into self-preservation mode. This is what happens when the pressure comes and we don't see an end, and we're thinking, well, I need to do something. I gotta put my trust somewhere. Let me put it in myself. And most times that doesn't work out that well. And so we have no horizon, but James, like a good shepherd, lifts our chin to see a horizon. Three times in three these three verses, he gives us the horizon line, and it's anchored in the return of Christ. Verse 7, he says, until the coming of the Lord. Verse eight, the coming of the Lord is at hand. Verse nine, the judge is standing at the door. Why would it matter to anchor your faith in the horizon of the end of when Christ comes back? Well, I think when we know the end of the story, it helps us endure in the middle of the story. So no matter what, what James is getting at is hey, there's good news coming for you. This role is broken because of sin, and one day Jesus is gonna come back and you won't have to deal with it. So no matter what, even if your trial you wish it was over tomorrow, and maybe it's your lifelong trial, either way, your chin can be lifted. There's end inside, there's a plan, there's a purpose. Can you trust God in it? Patience. Patience. So he is saying you can be patient with people because Jesus is coming back. And implied in that, I just want to remind you all of a couple things. One, he will right wrongs. Notice James says the judge is at the door. We'll get in that in a second. Two, he will reward faithfulness. Maybe here and now, we'll talk about that in a little bit, but definitely in the kingdom come. And then three, the good news is the work he's doing in you right now, it will be complete when Christ returns. Paul writes about this in Philippians 1, 6, he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. So even right now, in the trials you're in, and the tests, in the pressure points of life, if you can stay in it, lift your chin, see the horizon line, know Christ is coming back, the judge is at the door, then it will help us endure here and now. So this truth gives patience purpose, not just endurance, not just, hey, hang on a little bit longer. You can do it. Self kind of holding on, making it happen

Farmer Wisdom: Active Trust, Not Passivity

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for you. It's purpose-filled because of what's coming. And so James gives a real life picture here to help us understand patience. And they would have known this well because they were an agricultural society. He says, see how the farmer waits. Now, the farmer, as you would know, does what a farmer can do. He's going to prepare, as he should. He has work to do. He's going to plow, he's going to plant. They had ways to get some water to it, you know, to get to water their plants and stuff. But ultimately, he could only do what he could do, and he has no idea what the outcome is going to be. And so when James mentions these two times about the early rain and the latter rain, the early rain would have been in October. The latter rain would have been March or April. So you have these months that the farmer did what the farmer could do, and then he has to trust God with what he cannot do. Patience. So he does his part and he trusts. This is not laziness type of patience. This is not passivity. This is not just let's just see what happens. This is active trust, meaning you play your part, but you're trusting God with the part that you don't know. That's patience. Now, Paul actually says this in a different way, kind of a farmer-like proverb to a very weary church in Galatia. He says this to encourage them. It's in Galatians 6, verse 9. In due season we shall reap if we don't lose heart. Man, how many of us have lost heart? It's hard. Life can be tough. Throw in trials, throwing back to back, throw in compounding trials at one time, hard. But what Paul is saying here is if you just trust God, notice he said in due season, not your season, not your timing, not your plan. It may not even be next season, but at some point in God's plan for you, it will be the due season if you don't lose heart. If you continue to be patient and trust Him. So let me ask you, can you hold on right now with the trials going on in your life? Can you hold on a little longer? Because I know some of us have a lot going on. Think about your spouse. Maybe someone's here and their marriage is a little bit rocky. Is that a place it's never been? Or maybe it's never been good, but it's been years and you're just thinking, is this all it is? And you don't know what to do. Can you do your part and trust God with the rest? Can you do what you should do as a godly husband, as a godly wife, and trust God with the rest? Maybe it's not marriage, maybe it's kids or co-workers or friendships. These areas with people that our patience runs thin and we just feel like we're affected and we don't know what to do. Can we trust God? Can we do what we're called to do and then trust him with the outcome? Not control it, which is hard to do, but to release it. Release it to him. So here's what I want to encourage you by. If you don't lose heart, um you're gonna reap. The problem is you just don't know how long it's gonna take to reap, but there's a promise that you will reap. So here's what I want to encourage you with on the in-between. The trial and the ending of the trial, if you don't lose heart, God is gonna grow something in you in this time that impatience can never do. So even right now, there is something in this time that you don't know how long you got to be in it, but it's a trial. If you can not lose heart, stay strong, trust the Lord, then he's doing something, whether you see it or not. And at one point you'll realize it. And so James is going to take this a little bit deeper. He's gonna actually now speak to your heart. In verse 8, he says this it's a command, but he says, you also be patient, establish your heart. Establish your heart. To establish your heart literally means to anchor it on something. So whenever you're trying to have patience with people, what do you anchor your heart on? Well, there's nothing better

Don’t Lose Heart: Reaping In Due Season

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than the horizon line of Christ. There's nothing better to anchor your heart on than God's characters uh characteristics, than his goodness and his faithfulness, his mercy, and his grace, and his loving kindness, and his steadfastness to you. You can anchor it on that, even though you may think in these moments, he forgot about me, he's kind of just turned his back on me, uh, he hadn't checked in on me in a long time, and so it feels like I'm over here in no man's land. It's not true. He knows what's going on in your life, and his character is to take care of you, but he wants to develop something in you. So will you be patient? Will you be patient? And so, whenever he's saying establish your hearts, he's really saying set your direction. Continually fix your eyes on Christ. Don't be swayed by the opinions of friends, which you need to go get good, godly counsel. But sometimes that counsel is not what you need to do. You can hear it, you don't have to receive it. You need to set your attention, your heart on Christ, and not be swayed when the pressure's coming. Because you may have some friends who mean well, but they're like, man, you're going through a lot. You you need a little break. You need to go, and they may give you some advice that's horrible. They may go, you know what, I'm bringing a six-pack over, buddy. We need one of those nights. And you're going, that's not what you need. They can give you advice that sounds kind of good and like, yeah, you know what? That would be nice. Let's do it. And I just have a feeling, this is just me, this isn't in the text. This is me personally. I think in those moments, the devil's just waiting. He just wants a little foothold. Because a foothold can turn into a stronghold. We've got to be so wise, especially when pressure hits, because we get emotional. We want to get out and we'll listen to anything. But James is saying, no, no, no. Center, focus, horizon line, Christ. And then he goes into something in verse 9, which this might just be specifically for me. Don't know if uh this is going to be important for anyone else, but he's saying, When uh patience run thin, whenever your patience says no more, our mouths can run fast. Is that anyone else? That's me. I've had to learn this lesson quite a few times. He says this in verse nine at the end, he says, Do not grumble against one another. And I've thought, man, I'd do that. I shouldn't. I'd do it. And let me be honest, I'd do it probably daily. Okay? I do it daily. Last two weeks I've been preparing for this message, and I would grumble, and then I walk away feeling good about it, and then the Lord would be like, You can't preach about this if you ain't gonna do it. And I'd be like, Oh, you're right. I would grumble. And I thought, why would I grumble? And I think if I just took all these answers away that don't really make sense and I get to the base level, it would be because I don't trust God. I don't think he's moving fast enough on my schedule, however, you want to say it. Like, those are the things that I get to. I'm like, well, maybe he doesn't care about this as much as I do because he doesn't know what's going on. And so I need affirmation. So I'm gonna go grumble to someone, hoping that they go, yeah, you're right. And I'm like, yeah, I feel good about that. Now I can wait a little bit longer. And you're like, it's just bad. And then James is gonna encourage us because he gives us this line at the end of this section about uh grumbling. He says, Don't do it because the judge is standing at the door. Now that could be a little scary. Like he's hearing you grumble, and you gotta account for that one day, and he's telling us not to do it. So, as Barkheth preached the other day, the sin of omission, you know what to do,

Grumbling And The Judge At The Door

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you're not gonna do it. You gotta watch out on that. But here, I also think there's this understanding that he knows what you're going through. He's at the door. One day he'll come through it, but for now, he can hear you, he sees you, he knows what's being done that isn't good for you. And when you go and grumble about it, you shouldn't, because one day he's gonna right all those wrongs. That you really can uh keep your mouth to yourself and you can just give it over to the Lord. The judge is at the door, it's close. He's coming back, it's gonna happen, and he can right all these wrongs. So, guess what? You don't need the last word. You don't need revenge, you don't need to settle the score, you don't need to force an outcome, you don't have to do these things because Jesus will. Let him have the last word, he's gonna have it anyway. So let him have it. So verses seven through nine show us the patience that we need to have with people, but now James is gonna show us another kind of waiting, and this is patience in circumstances, patience in trials. Anybody got some trials? This will be specifically for you. Look at verses 10 and 11. James is gonna shift from instruction here to illustration. He says, My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, take them as an example of suffering and patience. It says in verse 11, 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. James says, Hey, okay, let's talk about circumstances. Let's pull some people out that you may know. Take the prophets as an example. Now, why the prophets? Why bring those up? Well, a couple of reasons, I think. One, I think his audience knew them well. They were the heroes of the faith. They would have talked about them as they ate or as they traveled or whatever. They would have known about the prophets. But what's interesting about all the prophets is all of the prophets had to wait on God. They had to wait for God's timing. They had to learn patience. So let me give you a couple of these, uh, just to remind you of some of them. Isaiah. Do you know that God gave Isaiah the worst ministry pep talk in the history of the world? God's like, hey, Isaiah, I need you to be my mouthpiece to the people. And he's like, Oh, this is awesome. I'm gonna do God's will. And he's like, Oh, and by the way, they're not gonna listen to you. It's kind of like a pastor's role. Kidding. He's like, they're not gonna listen to you. Um, but I need you to do this. Well, that doesn't make any sense. Why would you have me be the mouthpiece if they're not even gonna listen? And he's like, it gets worse. Um, I also want you to do this for three years, naked and barefoot. That's in the Bible. God wanted Isaiah to preach naked and barefoot for three years, and they're not gonna listen. This who signs up for this? Not us. No one here. Thank the Lord, no one here is signing up for that. But Isaiah did. And Isaiah stayed faithful even when obedience was humiliating. He he did his part and he trusted the Lord with whatever the Lord was gonna do through it. His patience. There's another one, one of my favorite men in all the Bible, Daniel. I love Daniel. Now, Daniel stayed faithful through four king changes. He also went through so much political drama that I think it would have swallowed some of us whole. And it kind of culminates in the story you know about where he's praying too much, so they throw him into a lion's den, and he wakes up the next day ready to serve the Lord again. That's patience. Now that's courage and some other things too, but to be in a circumstance, in a trial, I have animals that want to eat me, and I'm still gonna serve the Lord, I trust you, that's patience. I think one of the reasons uh James brought these up is to say the same God who sustained them can sustain you. Do you realize they were not superheroes? They're just heroes of the faith. They're not super. There was nothing super about

Patience In Circumstances: Learn From The Prophets

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them. They were ordinary men following an extraordinary God. And when they stepped into that extraordinary plan, we now remember them as heroes. The same could be true of us. We're ordinary. There's nothing extraordinary about us. Sorry, kids, your moms and dads tell you that, and you're awesome, we love you. But the reality is we're all ordinary. But when we walk in the plan God has for us, following the Spirit and His plan and trusting Him, then unbelievable things happen. And so imagine the stories that could be said of you, our church in this area, if we live this way. This is our challenge as pastors to try to always encourage, but also tell ourselves to do this, like to lift us up and be able to do this as we leave here even today. So they weren't just extraordinary men, they're ordinary, but God sustained them and they followed the plan that God had for them. But Joe, uh James isn't done with these real life examples. He literally brings out the heavyweight contender of all patience in the Bible. He says, This, you have heard of the perseverance of Job. And yes, they had. Job was another hero of the faith. No doubt. Job was someone who was a picture of faithful endurance, of trusting God, of patience. Now, if you're here and you're like, I don't really know, Job, I don't know what happened. Let me give it to you in three words. Job lost everything. It's all gone. His life, and it was a great life. He lost it all. His wealth, his health, his servants, his reputation, his friends, and even his children. He he walked through a darkness that I don't even think we could handle if we just opened the door to glance in at. And we've been through some stuff, but all of that, I mean, his life was over. Everything he knew was gone. But he did not lose his faith. And if I could come up with a definition of patience from Job, let me speak for him for a second. I think he would want us to know this that we need to stay faithful to God even when we're bleeding. Because I think we pressure, okay, I can handle some pressure, but it starts really hurting us. Well, I don't like this, and we want to run. And I think Job would say, yeah, you're you follow the Lord, you're gonna bleed in one way or another. But even in that pain, even in that great emotional pain, you gotta learn to trust him. Which is why Job says in verse 1 of Job 1, verse 20 21, I'm sorry, of chapter 1, said the Lord gave and the Lord is taken away, but blessed be the name of the Lord. Here's the key to Job's patience. He never lost his faith. He didn't give up the faith. Did he want answers? I bet you he did. Did he want things to change? Did he want justice? Did he want relief? I can almost guarantee he did. But he didn't manufacture his own deliverance. He trusted God for it. So biblical patience, trust that God sees me, he knows the truth of what's going on in my life, and he will act in his time. Man, that's the hardest part of that. Trusting him for his time. But with that understanding of patience, Job declares one of the most staggering lines of trust in God in the whole Bible. Job 13, 15, he says, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Golly, how hard would that be? You know, I got these three beautiful girls, uh, another kid on the way, in case you're wondering. And I love it. We want more kids. But I couldn't imagine losing one. And I thought about it as a pastor here, like, what would I think if how could I do my job? How could I come back from that? And I just have to trust the Lord. I pray it never happens, obviously, but I just have to trust the Lord. Right now it sounds good to be like, yeah, I'd be back after time, but I don't know, y'all. I think that would be hard to do. Job lost everything. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. I think that's a lesson for someone, maybe all of us this morning. And James sums this up, let the story of Job. He says, You have heard of the perseverance of

Job’s Perseverance And God’s Purpose

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Job, and he ends by saying, And you saw the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and very merciful. Because if you don't know the end of Job's story, uh God blessed him with more than he had before. Now that's not a guarantee that we'll always be blessed here with more than we had before. That's not it at all. But even if not, the horizon line of Christ coming back, and the New Testament truth is one day you will be blessed for the way you endure, even here and now. It may not be here and now, though it may just be in the kingdom come. So James's point is simple. God's not going to waste any of this waiting season that some of you may be in. He's doing something in you, and you can't see it all the time. You don't know where it's at. Is he moving? Did he forget about me today, this week, this month, this year, this life? I mean, what's going on, Lord? He's moving. He's doing something. You may not always be able to see it, but he's doing something in the waiting. I uh I want us to know this. I think we do, but I sometimes I say things that are simple, and I hope you aren't like he's a dummy. I want you to know this has been my thought this week. This one thing. I used to think that, man, if I got under a trial, almost like I was looking for him, which is bad and not smart, but if I get under it, then the Lord's gonna bless me in some way. He's gonna grow me. And that's not true. Uh just because you go under a trial doesn't mean you're gonna be blessed by it. But here's the difference you get blessed when you trust God when you go through a trial. And that's way harder to do. Because that's where the rubber meets the road, that's where you have to honestly wake up and pray, pray more throughout the day, continually go to Him. Lord, I'm needing you. I'm wanting to get out from the pressure, and you're not moving, and I'm gonna still pray. You're not moving, and I'm gonna be like the farmer, and I'm still gonna do my part today. But I have months of in between, and golly Lord, I'm just waiting. Would you move? Help me, steady me so you get blessed because you go through it. And I think some of us need this reminder because I I think someone here thinks their tears are going unnoticed. I think someone here thinks that their prayers aren't being heard. And maybe even to the point that you stop praying. I want you to know it's not true. Your tears are noticed, and God is hearing your prayers. How do I know this? Because James tells us this is God's character with Job. He's he's compassionate, he's merciful, this is who he is. So it happened to Job, it can happen to you and for you. So James has shown us patience with people, he's shown us patience and circumstances, but now we're gonna look at the last verse, and it's gonna seem a little random, but it's not, I assure you. He's gonna talk about patience with our words. Look at James chapter 5, verse 12. He says this, 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 be no, lest you fall into judgment. You're like, whoa, James, you're a little ADD. You were here, and now you're going off over here. It's like the end of the letter, and he's like, What else should I write about? Oh, let's just pencil this in. It's perfect where where he's saying this out. He's not just switching subjects or anything. He's talking about patience because he knows that when we're under trial and we need patience, our heart's affected. And Jesus says, from the heart, the mouse speaks. And so he knows that this thing can happen where all of a sudden we may stay under it physically, but verbally, we're running all over the place. And he says, that that could cause some judgment on you. So let's just be smart. It's just practical. James is like, let's get real practical here. When waiting gets long, temptations get loud. And we go, oh, that's enticing over here. Oh, and that could be that's more fun than I'm having here. Oh, this is an escape. Even if it's temporary, it's an escape. And we start saying things or thinking things we shouldn't. And he's saying, you got to be careful. When we're tired, we overpromise, we overcommit, we try to control the outcomes. We say yes when we shouldn't say yes, we make emotional decisions that come out our mouth, and after we say it, we go, oh, and we try to like pull it back in and stuff it down and never let it out again. But it's too late because we already voiced it. All because we're under pressure. We vow things we can't deliver on. We try to manipulate our way out of pressure. And so James is saying, you got to be careful when you're under pressure with what you say. So let it so simple but

God Sees Tears: Compassion And Mercy

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practical. Let your yes be honest. Let your no be honest. A patient person will speak truthfully, they will speak simply, they will speak calmly, and they will speak consistently. So above all, let your yes be yes and your no be no. This is the simplicity of a patient life. Now, as we close this morning, there was a lot of content in this. We kind of skipped through, uh just kind of over some things, but I want to bring it all together for us. He's been building a whole picture of biblical patience, and and so this is the these are the things he said. He said, The Lord is coming, the Lord is at hand, the judge is at the door, so be patient, establish your hearts, don't grumble, look at the prophets, remember Job, let your yes be yes, and let your no be no. Now, James here is giving us something better than just a command. He's not saying, Okay, go be patient, have at it. He's giving us so much more than a command here. He is giving us hope, he's giving us perspective, he is giving us the horizon line that some of us need even today. And so here's the truth sitting at the center of all of this. Patience is what faith looks like under pressure. Patience is what faith looks like under pressure. That when you feel the strain of life or the trials on you, or the pressure points of life, you can stay under your faith, can stay. You are gonna be patient even under the pressure. So keep trusting the outcomes when it's unknown, uh, a faith that's gonna stay steady even if it gets dark outside. These are the types of faith, the types of things that James is calling believers of God to live out. So some of you are in that pressure today. Some of you have some uh medical situations that you need answers for. And you're wondering, oh my gosh, what he's had me run here, and I went to this doctor, and they didn't come up with anything, so they're sending me over to this side. And and I just want to know what the answer is so we can begin to fix it. I I would say keep praying. I would say keep getting uh godly people around you to pray for you and over you. Come next week, Barkef's sermon's about prayer. He's even gonna talk about the elders praying over people. Like this, the you should still do what you're supposed to do. The farmer does what he can, trust God with the rest. Some of you, maybe it's not medical bills, maybe some of you it it's uh or medical or medical bills or healing, maybe some of it's reconciliation. That there's a broken relationship somewhere, and you wish it wasn't. And you've maybe done your part and you've just kind of let

Patience With Our Words: Let Yes Be Yes

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now let it go, but kind of passively. And the Lord wants you to actually bring that back, be praying for that, trust him with that. Some of you could be just clarity on answers, could be God's timing, it could just be you're waiting for a breakthrough. You ever been in one of those moments of your life where you're like, Lord, I just need something good to happen. Just something. Man, can you please? Maybe that's where some of y'all are at. Nothing big going on, but you just want something positive to happen. I would say, look at this candle as we close. This entire time, it hasn't cared at all what's happened around it. It doesn't care about me. It didn't care about what's happening in Coppel or America or the world. It doesn't have any clue about the cosmos. But what it has been is steady. It's been there, invisible, but it's been quiet. It's been unhurried, it's been unaffected with what's happening around it. It's just doing what it was made to do. And I believe that's the patient faith that God wants to form in you. It's not a faith that's real flashy, it comes in and out, and I feel good with the Lord, and then I don't. You're on a roller coaster of faith, it's not that. It's not a faith that just fizzles out and dies. It's just a steady, steadfast faith. And I believe this is the faith that waits. And so the question we're gonna end with is how can we wait? Well, James told us we can wait because God is always working. Don't let that pass in one ear and out the other. Did you hear me? God is always working. Yeah, but I haven't seen his hand in my life, I haven't heard of it. I I don't see it anywhere. Are you got breath in your lungs right now? And by the looks of it, everyone does. God is always working. He also tells us that Jesus is coming back, the great hope for all of us. The horizon line, if nothing else, that we can look at and we can see what's coming. He says the judge is at the door. And I already said it, but you gotta know it's true. He's not just gonna be at the door one day, he's gonna come through it. He'll right all the wrongs. Look, some of you feel that stress and that pressure right now because there's been some things that have some people that have wronged you. There's been some things we've done to wrong people. Look, the Lord's gonna be the judge on all that. We can hand it over to him. We can trust him. And then, like he's talking about with Job, he says, the Lord is compassionate and merciful. It's in his nature, it's in his character. So, whatever season you're in, whatever you're carrying right now, whatever feels heavy or whatever may feel unclear, whatever may feel slow, you gotta be patient. You can't lose heart. You gotta keep trusting, you gotta keep praying, you gotta stay steady, you gotta stay faithful. Because the God who calls you to wait is working in you right now, in the wait, and he's not gonna waste any of it. So let me end my message the way James began his. Let me read this over you. James chapter 1, verses 2, 3, and 4. My brethren, count it all joy

When Waiting Gets Long, Speak Simply

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when you fall into various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Father God, may that be true of us.