James 5:7-12

PATIENCE IN SUFFERING

James 5:7-12

James 5:7  Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. James 5:8  You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.  

Obviously the "end" as we know it (Christ's return) was not at hand so are we caught in an untruth? Time is meaningful to humans. We eat at a time we sleep at a time etc. If the concept of time is what God thinks it is what would change? If you are eternal and there is no night or day or months or years what would your life time be in God's time. Would it be a blip or a 2 minute station break? If you are a Christian then our time on earth is only meaningful to Christ if we live out God's will. That opens the gate to eternity. The Lord's coming is always near. Our death or his return either way we have spent very little on God's time clock. So James was not giving an untruth.

James 5:9  Don't grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!

We talked about this in James 4, What is "Judging your neighbor"? We talk about people every day most of it is about things we did together or the fun we had etc. Then there is the other discussions, did you hear about Sally? He is a  drunken bum. These are more judgmental. What does the bible say about gossip? Rom_1:29-30; ²⁹ Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, bitterness, and gossip.³⁰ They were backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud, braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning and continually being disobedient to their parents.  2Co_12:20; ²⁰ For I am afraid that when I come to visit you I won’t like what I find, and then you won’t like the way I will have to act. I am afraid that I will find you quarreling, and envying each other, and being angry with each other, and acting big, and saying wicked things about each other, and whispering behind each other’s backs, filled with conceit and disunity. 1Pe_2:12 So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs.

Please note where Gossip lies within the world of sin. It is ranked with murder. Why would God be so upset over such disrespect? James 2:8-10 Living Bible (TLB) 8 Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord’s command, “You must love and help your neighbors just as much as you love and take care of yourself.” 9 But you are breaking this law of our Lord’s when you favor the rich and fawn over them; it is sin.10 And the person who keeps every law of God but makes one little slip is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is.

In James 5:9 James is reiterating the warning. It is so easy to judge someone else but it is a dangerous endeavor.

James 5:10  For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. James 5:11  We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.

There are many verses in the bible that show us what the advantage to being humble. The beatitudes' are one example.

Mat 5:10  God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Mat 5:11  "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are My followers. Mat 5:12  Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

James 5:12  But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.

This verse explains itself. Making contracts using the Lord's name is not allowed.