WHEN YOU NEED PATIENCE NOW by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  Have you ever been in a situation where you did not have time to be patient? Kind of like that man who got a call from the doctor: “I have some bad news and some really bad news.” Man: “Give me the bad news first.” Doctor: “You have only 24 hours to live.” Man: “That’s awful. What could be worse than that?” Doctor: “The really bad news – I should have called you yesterday.” That poor man didn’t have time to be patient! In our series through the book of James, we come to the portion where James is going to teach us about patience. We all need patience. Sometimes we need patience when we are tempted to give up. Sometimes we need patience when we are tempted to blow up. Sometimes we need patience when God seems too distant. Sometimes we need patience when God’s name seems just a cussword or a final word. Our message today is titled – WHEN YOU NEED PATIENCE NOW.

James 5 (page #1853) 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 latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

Overall Background: James knows that the believers are facing some tough times. He understands that they are getting it from every angle. As the letter is ending, he wants to encourage them to hang in there, to wait on God, not to let people’s bad behaviors cause them to react poorly, and not to let their circumstances bring out the worst in them. They are diasporic people of Israel. Not only were they outsiders by the people they were around, but now, they were also outsiders to their own people. Things were getting difficult, and they were tempted to give up. This is when they had to learn to be patient.

THERE ARE 4 REMINDERS TO BE PATIENT:

I. BE PATIENT – WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED TO GIVE UP.

James 5 (page #1853) 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 latter rain.”

Background: A farmer has to be a future looking person. Some of the richest farmlands in the world are in Palestine. But, due to external oppression, the Jews had to farm in the hill country where there was no irrigation, and the soil was difficult to till. After that it was a waiting game. First, there was the early rain and then, there was the latter rain:

• Early rain – in October and November. It would break the stifling heat of the summer and help the seed to germinate. But that wasn’t it. Then there was winter which brought a period of dormancy.
• Then, Latter rain – in April and May. It would allow the plants to mature and grow.

The farmer was at the mercy of these rains. Oh, if only he knew for sure that the early and then the latter rain would come; it would make his life so much easier. He had to wait patiently. The word for that is “makrothumeo” = makros + thumos; makros = a long way, thumos = passion or heat (same word from which we get our word thermometer). Put it all together, the word for patience is literally “a long fuse.”

What is the point? James is telling his people: I know you are going through some tough times. I know you are about to burn out. But please, think about that farmer who has to wait on the early and latter rain. Have a long fuse.

Application: Some of you are worried sick about the future. Worried about your job, Worried about finances, worried about your health, worried about your children. Don’t let the fuse burn out. Don’t quit too soon. Depending on where you are, the early and latter rain will come. Your life is not a standstill, seasons are changing. Don’t expect early rain in August or the latter rain in January. It will come in its time. Be patient.

What else? James 5 (page #1853) 8 “You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” The Greek word for establish is “sterizo” = to be strengthened, to be steadfast, to be unstable, “without oscillation (Spicq). Meaning: God is in control. God did not make this world and left it to run on its own. He is still in control. He will bring everything to a close. He wrote the play. He is the star of the play. He will close the curtain at the end of the play. Trust him and live every day with a resolve to please him when he comes, because he can come any moment.

For e.g. Someone once asked John Wesley: “If you knew for certain the Lord was returning tomorrow night, how would you spend the day?” Wesley replied, “Madam, I would spend it just as I intend to spend it. I would preach tonight at Gloucester, and again tomorrow morning. After that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the Society in the evening. I should then go to Friend Martin’s house as he expects to entertain me. I would converse, pray with the family, retire to my room at ten o’clock, commend myself to my heavenly Father, and wake up in glory.”

II. BE PATIENT – WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED TO BLOW UP.

James 5 (page #1853) 9 “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.”

Immediate Background: Verse 9 makes sense when you see verse 10 first – “My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.” The prophets were men of God who were sent by God to be the mouthpiece for God. They were to call the people to repentance. What happened when they began to speak – they had to suffer.

• Moses – lead the people out of slavery but then the people questioned his motives, even his own brother and sister.
• Elijah – warned King Ahab that there would be a drought in the land for 3 ½ years. But then he himself had to suffer in that drought.
• Jeremiah – preached to the people and they arrested him and threw him into an abandoned well.
• Isaiah – was sawn in two.

Nevertheless, they did not complain or grumble.

Application: Some people are in some very difficult situations. Very understandable. But when you begin to grumble and complain, you lose all the credit. What’s more – they begin to grumble and complain at home and take it out on others. 9 “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.”

Immediate Background: Grumble = “stenazo” = “to groan” or “to sigh” or “to murmur.” Groaning is an internal, unexpressed attitude of bearing a grudge. Now that grudge becomes a forerunner for bitterness and hatred. Instead of looking out at the circumstances and situations, people start snapping at one another. Sometimes, they are even impatient with God. Cannot do anything about God, so they start taking it out on others. That becomes a SIN. Going back to the farmer analogy: IF YOU START USING THE SICKLE ON EACH OTHER, YOU WILL MISS THE HARVEST.

III. BE PATIENT – WHEN GOD SEEMS TOO DISTANT.

James 5 (page #1853) 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.”

Background: Next to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great example of patience was Job. By the way, James is the only NT writer to mention Job. You know the story:

• Messenger: Sabeans came and took away all his oxen and donkeys & killed the servants.
• Messenger: Fire came down from heaven and consumed all his sheep & the servants watching over them.
• Messenger: Chaldeans came and took all his camels & killed all his servants watching over them.
• Messenger: All his children were killed when strong winds came and the house fell on them. There he stands at the gravesite with 10 dead bodies with a white sheet over them (7 sons and 3 daughters).

It’s not over yet – His body is covered with boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. Now he is sitting on an ash heap in misery and agony.

Application: Some of ya’ll have been through some very tough times. God is pointing you to the example of Job and saying: “hang in there.” Similar to POWs during Vietnam who had “giveupitis.”

What was Job’s end? God blessed His latter days far more than his former:

LOSSES	RESTORED
Lost 7 Sons	Gained 7 Sons
Lost 3 Daughters	Gained 3 Daughters
Lost 7,000 Sheep	Gained 14,000 Sheep
Lost 3,000 Camels	Gained 6,000 Camels
Lost 1,000 Oxen	Gained 2,000 Oxen
Lost 500 Donkeys	Gained 1,000 Donkeys
Lost a Large Household	Lived for 140 years
Greatest Man in the East	Saw Four Generations of Children

Why is God restoring and not Satan? Why didn’t God make Satan restore? 

1. Satan does not restore. He only tears down. This does not mean that in today’s world there cannot be restitution by evil people. Yes, there can be and should be. 
2. Don’t forget that God signed off on Job’s suffering. Listen to Job 2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” Satan was given authority to be the chief angel to bring the praises of the creation to God and take God’s decrees to the creation. It’s like being given a signet ring. Even though he messed up, the authority remains. No, he cannot do anything and everything he wants anymore, but he can, with authority, do evil. He will be judged for that one day. God uses his evil to bring out those things in our lives that otherwise would not be possible. He is God’s Devil.

Still, there’s a question – We can understand getting double portion with regards to material things, but how can children be restored? You lost your child? Here are two for one! That’s a misunderstanding. God’s word to Job, and to you, this morning: “Your latter days will be greater than your former. Have Patience.”

By the way – Isn’t God’s Word Wonderful? Why do we think there is something better out there? Why do we think we will find a mouthwatering meal buried in some ash heap?

IV. BE PATIENT – WHEN GOD’S NAME IS INVOKED FOR THE WRONG REASONS.

James 5:12 (page #1853) “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,’ ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment.” Many people deal with this passage separately. Verse 12 begins with “But above all.” There is a connection between the charge to be patience and taking oaths. People have taken this out of context and misunderstood James and Jesus Christ. There are some people who refuse to take an oath in the court of law. In actuality, the Old Testament prescribes taking oaths.

• Exodus 22      10 If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, 11 then an oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods…”
• 2 Corinthians 1:23 “Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth.”
• Matthew 5       33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

Now why did Jesus say that? Because in the time of Jesus and James oath taking was being abused. It was an easy way out – I swear I didn’t do it. Like people do it today – “I swear on a stack of Bibles, I didn’t do it.” That kind of oath taking was wrong.

In this context, James is saying don’t take God’s name in vain just because you are frustrated and tempted to take a shortcut. Soon we will be starting our series on Ephesians where Paul also warns the believers that two watch for two areas where they may be tempted to go during trials – sexual immorality and speech.

So, is the point of this message – “Just be patient”? To the contrary, it is to look to Christ. In ourselves, we cannot help but be impatient. It’s only when we look to Christ and seek his life in us, then we can have the patience of Christ. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 3:5 (page #1818) “Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.” 

• He waited 33 years before the cross.
• He was false accused and yet he opened not his mouth.
• He was nailed to the cross and gave his life for our sins.
• He is forgiving and gracious even when we don’t deserve it.
• He patiently waits for each of us to receive his love.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Are you saved? Are you presuming on the patience of God? Are you patient as Christ and in Christ?ou patient as Christ and in Christ?