Be Patient! Stand Firm!
Part (1) One
Summary: Here James tells us how to respond correctly when we are treated unjustly. He suggests four specific attitudes – (2) two we should adopt and (2) two we should avoid.
Scripture: James 5:7-12
“7. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. 10. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 12. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
Sermon:
How do you cope with the pressure of hurtful situations?
Story of a young man who went through a divorce he did not want: One day a young father whose family has disintegrated through a divorce he did not want. He went through hurts and did not even noticed that his children is been abused. Her daughters were sexually abused. Every year in America More than a million children are sexually abused. Children under the age of four bear the brunt of two-thirds of all child abuse. One-third are under six months old. That’s one heinous sort of mistreatment. Many experience some form of pain and hurt —marriages falling apart, disappointment in romance, rebellious children, alcoholic parents, broken relationships. How do we cope with these pressures?
The natural tendency is to become bitter, but God has a better idea. James tells us how to respond correctly when we are treated unjustly. He suggests four specific attitudes – two we should adopt and two we should avoid.
- ATTITUDES TO ADOPT WHEN MISTREATED
- Be Patient v 7
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”
The word “be” points back to the previous six verses. There, James lectured the wealthy who twisted justice and treated the Christians unfairly. Now he addresses those who had been mistreated. How should they respond to the injustice? He has already assured them that their cries “have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty” (v. 4). A just God will deal with injustice. His coming is certain – “be patient!”
The term “patient” means to be “long-tempered”—to have a long fuse when treated unfairly. This is the opposite of “short-tempered.” Patience is the first mark of true love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NIV “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” Patience harnesses the revenge motive.
“Be patient … until the Lord’s coming.” The Lord will return, though we don’t know when. The promise of His coming was a familiar truth to the early church. One of every 13 verses in the New Testament, about 300 references, is to the Second Coming. This truth offers comfort and hope to those facing stress and strain. Christ’s return will end oppression and make their suffering a thing of the past.
The farmer is an example of waiting patiently in hope. I learnt that in Palestine the soil is poor— rocky and dry. The farmer plants the seed and patiently waits for the early rain in October to soften the soil so it can begin to germinate. Then he waits through the winter for the spring rains to swell the grain and fill it with flavor. During this process the farmer never races up and down the rows, biting his nails. He plants it and leaves it.
For a small farmer the waiting could be very difficult. Times were hard and his family might be hungry during the wait. But the farmer had to be patient. He could not speed up the process.
You can’t hurry God’s plan. Injustice and suffering may stalk your life, but wait on the Lord to make things right. If you take the situation into your own hands, disaster will follow.
A resentful spirit can drive you to do strange things. A divorced man was ordered to pay alimony and child-support every month. Every time the payment came due, he grudgingly left 160 pounds of nickels at his wife’s door. Another divorced man was ordered to equally divide his property with his ex-wife. His neighbors looked on in amazement as he carefully measured a $100,000 suburban home, revved up his chain-saw and literally divided floor, walls, ceiling, and roof—precisely in half.
Let the Lord be your defense. His coming is as certain as the harvest. Be patient!
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,[a] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
The Lord is coming and He will vindicate His people. In fact, here in the bible passage we just read, Peter hints that the only reason He has not already returned is that He is as patient as He desires us to be.
B. Stand Firm v 8
You can be patient and still become depressed and defeated by feelings of self-pity, so James says, “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” In the original this means, “Prop up your hearts.” Obviously it refers to the Second Advent, but there’s a practical sense in which our hearts are strengthened by the presence of the Lord. Stand firm by letting the Lord support you.
Psalm 55:22 “Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”
1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
The Lord provides relief as He steps into the midst of our discouragement.
There is an amazing story in the life of David. Absalom, the King David’s son had rebelled against his father, forcing the King to flee Jerusalem for his life. In this time of great sorrow, Shimei, one of Saul’s relatives “pelted David and all the king’s officials with stones…”
2 Samuel 16:6 – “And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men wereon his right hand and on his left.”
2 Samuel 16:9 “Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head!” Here Abishai was angered at the treatment they gave to his king.
2 Samuel 16:10 – “But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David.’ Who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?” Here David in other word was telling Abishai to leave them alone.
In 2 Samuel 16:11-12 – 11. And David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the Lord has ordered him. 12. It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day.”
David is saying leave him alone, my own son is trying to take my life. Maybe the Lord told him to curse me.” Most people would say, “Yeah, slit his throat so fast he won’t know it till he sneezes.” David wouldn’t follow his natural impulse for revenge. He settled his heart in the Lord.
Look at circumstances around you alone and you’ll be discouraged. The prophet Isaiah shared the secret of standing firm in Isaiah 26:3 – “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Hold on to your faith in the midst of temptations and trials. Brace yourself for the struggle with sin and difficult situations. James’ advice is the same today as it was then: “be patient, and stand firm.”
By and large, Let’s look back at Third World Christians (Nigeria) they don’t regard stress. When they are not struggling merely to survive, their joy in the kingdom seems to make them indifferent to the cost of Christian service. It may be that while we in the West (USA) live in an artificially secure environment our brothers and sisters have a better chance of seeing life as it really is. Eternity is a little closer to them. Some down there don’t even have means of eating twice a day not to talk of the next day meals but when it comes to serve the Lord or praise the Lord, they will ignore all their struggles and stress, they will pray and praise the Lord from the bottom of their heart. Be Patient and Stand Firm in the Lord your God.
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