The
book of James
How
to live the Christian Life
Sermon
9
Be
patient, the end is near!
James 5:7-11
The book of James!
· We will
learn how to be a Christian (today)
· What our
daily lives should look like (today)
·
What
God expects from His followers
·
How to
deal with the world
·
How
our works are tied back to our faith in Jesus
Things to be thankful for:
1. Your
salvation!
a. Always remember no matter how hard it gets,
there is a place reserved for you if you want it!
2. The
opportunity to take someone with you
a. All you have to do is tell people about
Jesus
b. Get them in church
c. Our work here is never done, this week we
have seen God take people quickly, so don’t put it off!
d.
James 4:14 (ESV)
yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a
mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
3. A
church family that wants to love you!
a.
As
dysfunctional as we are, we want to get to know you
b.
We
want the opportunity to do life with you
c.
GET
PLUGGED IN; learn there is a way to find true Joy in Gods family!
Read James 5:6-12
James 5:7–8 (ESV)
7 Be
patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. 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. 8 You also, be
patient. Establish your hearts,
for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
He starts off with
a word no one likes PATIENCE!
·
We live in a world of NOW
·
We live in a time where no one waits
·
We have created a culture of buy now, pay later
·
We have lost the art of being patient
o Want
a house you cant afford, credit!
o Want
car you cant afford, credit!
o Want
a horse you don’t need, get a loan!
·
My Dads
Story:
o He
learned patience
§ Through
the depression
§ Through
living in an orphanage
§ Through
WWII
o We
never had a lot but never went without
o We
were never in debt
If we use the suffering that God puts us through to learn
patience, we will come out stronger on the other side. We live in a disposable
world. God never intended for it to be that way. Your marriage is not
disposable, your kids are not disposable, and your family is not disposable! We
have to learn to be patient and see it through to the end.
Until the Lord
comes!
·
We aren’t going to just wait for tomorrow, James
says until we die or Jesus comes back!
·
The bible is all about a love story, a patient
love story
·
God told us from the beginning it would take
time!
·
Gen 3
o When
we were banished from the garden, God told us it would be tough
·
Jesus was
a shining example of Patience
o When
he was tempted (haven’t we all been)
o When
the disciple’s didn’t listen (we have all been there)
o With
us all in our sin (we have all been sinned against)
·
Hebrews
tells us we have a High Priest that understands
o He
was tempted
o He
had people that didn’t listen
o He
had people let Him down
o And
he was patient until God called him home!
If you have ever potty trained a dog or broke a horse you
know what patience is, it takes time and a level head to get the Job done.
James says your heart has to be right. Horses, like us, live in the moment
and lead by their emotions. It takes patience and time to teach them what you
want them to do. God says be patient, I’m coming for ya, Keep doing the right
thing, keep listening to me, I sent my son to show you the way the prize is
close!
James 5:9 (NLT)
9 Don’t grumble about each other,
brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at
the door!
I know we have beat this issue up over the past several
weeks put lets look at it a little different!
·
When you’re hurting whom do you take your
frustration out on? The ones you love!
o I
do it! When I am the maddest, instead of taking out where I need to I tend to
take it out on the ones closest to me!
o As Christians our journey is long and hard
§ We
are trying to follow a life style not popular
§ We
are trying to hold each other accountable (in love)
§ We
are often the most critical when we are wrong (to hide our sin)
§ So
easiest to take it out on the ones who hold us accountable, and love us the
most!
o Jesus lived in the frustration of believers
letting him down!
§ When
he knew Peter would deny him, he was patient, he didn’t walk away from Him
§ When
the disciple’s questioned Him, He was patient, not critical
§ When
there was sin all around him, He was patient, and loved them through it humbly
showing them a better way
To drive this home let’s look at one particular time in
Jesus’s life!
Read Matthew 26:36-44
·
Jesus in
His greatest time of need, His closest friends let Him down!
o He
just need one thing, for them to stay awake
o As
he prayed and was so nervous he was sweating blood they slept
o When
all he need was some moral support, they let him down
He could have been harsh, he could have exploded, instead
he stayed patient and loved them through it. He chose them over Himself, he
knew that sometimes getting Mad at the ones closest to you is not the right
thing. At that moment he didn’t judge them for their sin, He didn’t get mad and
offend, he chose to show patience, and mercy, and forgiveness.
Now think of the Men they became, because he was patient,
and showed them grace, he didn’t condone their sin, just chose to forgive them.
Because of that they became Men of character, Men who had been shown mercy and
gave mercy.
Peter: He preached
on patience, in 1 Peter 2:21-25 He spoke of the man who
showed him patience in suffering.
John: in Revelations 1:9 says
it Best! “I, John, am your
brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient
endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos
for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus.”
Until Jesus returns, that most likely will be a lifetime!
But we must not be hard on each other, we don’t know what God is putting them
through, or what his plans are for them. We need to be full of grace, and mercy
with each other. We need to hold each other accountable in love, and always to
restore not tear down. We need to be patient until Jesus returns or we go home,
one or the other!
James 5:11 (NLT)
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.
·
I can really identify with Job!
o Job
got mad a God, so have I
o Satan
put Job through the ringer (and he has me)
o Job
suffered horribly (haven’t we all)
o God
restores him in the end
§ I
have seen the hand of God take a man not worthy of any thing and give Him great
riches
·
God knows how to richly bless us, (he has blessed
me)
o It's
not money, that’s not how were blessed all the time
o Or
things, God isint going to give you a
o It's
my beautiful wife (God is still blessing me and taching me to love her more)
o It's
my relationship with Him (He is drawing me closer to him daily through my
obedience)
o I
am rich in my church family (there are people here that truly care about me)
o I
am rich because Jesus died for me, he was my substitute
Job suffered, Jesus suffered and because they endured,
were patient and work in Gods time not their own, God restored them to their
rightful place!
We must keep our eye on the prize, and keep trusting that
God will see us through to the end!
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