The Power of Patience
James 5:7-11
Introduction
A man in Los Angeles, CA was arrested for negligent discharge of a weapon after shooting his toilet bowl with a handgun. He claims that he just got upset. He couldn’t take it any longer. His daughter had flushed a hairbrush earlier in the day and clogged the pipes. So he shot the offending toilet. I have no word on the toilet’s condition, but the man’s patience was long gone.
Someone has said,
Patience is a virtue,
Possess it if you can.
Found seldom in a woman,
Never in a man.
It seems that there is always something to try our patience. Having to wait is one of those things. We wait on traffic and we wait in lines. We wait to hear about a new job. We wait to complete school or to retire. We wait to grow up or for maturity in a child. We wait for a decision to be make.
Everyday presents plenty of occasions for training in patience. We can resent waiting, accept it or even get good at it! But one thing is certain – we cannot avoid it. Perhaps we can hear the Lord speak to us about the possibilities for patience in our own lives today, that is, is we are not in too much of a hurry to get out of here. Amen.
We have all hear the expression; I need patience – and I need it RIGHT NOW!!! The story is told that the great New England preacher Phillip Brooks was known for his calmness and poise. His intimate friends, however, knew that he suffered moments of frustration and irritability. One day a friend saw him pacing the floor like a caged lion. He asked, “What is the trouble Dr. Brooks?” “The trouble is, that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t.”
Haven’t we all felt that same way many times? Patience is what James addresses in our text tonight. Let’s read James 5:7-11 together.
READ TEXT
James here addresses the problems that we all face when problems overwhelm us in all areas of life.
I. When we are Tempted to Lose Patience – Remember it will be Worth the wait! (vv. 7-8a)
• James sets the theme for the whole section with this command he gives right up front.
• In fact he states it twice, once in v. 7, and again in v. 8.
• He begins v. 7 with this command and the word “therefore” or “so then.”
• The people to whom James is writing were experiencing tremendous difficulty and persecution.
• During this time in our text, the wicked rich were oppressing and persecuting the Christians.
• James says, “be patient.”
• Be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others.
• This appears to be perfect advice for what his audience is going through, doesn’t it?
• We know this passage is addresses to believers because James uses the term brethren four times.
• The reason is that the king of patience to which James is referring can only be achieved by a person whose life is connected to God.
• We have all experienced the hurt of mistreatment and misunderstanding.
• Such hurts come in a variety of forms; intolerable work situations, domestic conflicts, difficult relatives, individuals who take advantage of us, friends (so called) who turn against us, neighbors who believe false things about us and dozens of other hurtful circumstances.
• Our natural tendency is to retaliate, to return evil for evil, to get even, or to hold a grudge and become bitter.
• But there is a better way to respond to such hurtful circumstances and James as the pastor of the church of Jerusalem reveals this to his congregation.
• God is calling Christians to overcome our natural reaction with a supernatural response.
• Enduring suffering as a result of sin is nothing extraordinary.
• However enduring unfair treatment with patience is particularly noteworthy.
• When we respond in such a supernatural way, God is pleased.
• Three times James reminds us of the coming of the Lord.
• Titus tells us that this is the “blessed hope” of the Christian in Titus 2:13
• James also gives a classic illustration of patience when he says, “see how the farmer waits” – the farmer is patient because the value of the harvest justifies the wait.
• When the seed is planted and everything is done in the initial stage, he doesn’t go off and retire.
• He is working in another area of the farm.
• While we are waiting for the Lord’s coming, we are not exhorted to put on white robes and sit on the roof of the church waiting for Christ return.
• We are to be occupied.
• We should be working in the church and seeking to win people to Jesus.
• Some of the greatest missionaries of history devotedly spread the seed of God’s Word and yet had to wait long periods before seeing the fruit of their efforts.
• William Carey, for example, labored 7 years before the first Hindu convert was brought to Christ in Burma.
• In West Africa, it was 14 years before one convert was received into the family of God.
• In New Zealand, it took 9 years; and it Tahiti, it was 16 years before the first harvest of souls began.
• The word “patience,” means to endure under.
• You don’t really need patience when everything around you is going right.
• You need it when life is hard on you.
• Suffering and patience seem to go hand in hand.
• As a matter of fact, the Bible talks about tribulation working patience in us.
• James gives the reader two examples of why we should have patience, first there is the example of the Old Testament prophets in v. 10.
• They have given an example that you will need patience when you are mistreated.
• Secondly, we have the example of the Patriarch Job.
• Job was blessed above every other man of his day.
• He was prosperous and had a wonderful family.
• It seemed he had everything his heart desired.
• Then suddenly he lost it all.
• Job didn’t understand what was happening or why but he knew his life was in God’s hands.
• Even in his confusion he cried out to the Lord.
• Job is a wonderful source of encouragement.
• When we are Tempted to Lose Patience – Remember it will be Worth the Wait and …
II. When we are Tempted to Lose Perspective – Strengthen Your Relationship with the Lord (v. 8b)
• In the second portion of v. 8, James utters another command, ” ….establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
• He says that instead of feeling agitated and shaken up by the experience of oppression we are to develop an inner sense of stability.
• We are told in v. 8 to “establish” or strengthen our hearts, this is a charge to us as patiently waiting Christians to firmly establish our hearts in God’s Word and truth and strengthen ourselves against the sin and temptation and trials of the world.
• Strengthening your heart has to do with supporting something that is heavy.
• When you have been done wrong your heart is heavy.
• To strengthen our hearts is to strengthen our relationship with the Lord.
• I want to point out three things you can do here.
• Strengthening our hearts requires prayer.
• Strengthening our hearts requires attention to the Scripture.
• And here’s the one we often neglect; Strengthening our hearts requires fellowship with other Christians.
• I don’t mean just church attendance.
• The purpose of fellowship with other Christians is the building up on one another.
• When we are Tempted to Lose Perspective – Strengthen your Relationship with the Lord and …
III. When we are Tempted to Blame Others – Grumbling will not help! (v. 9)
• Impatience with our circumstances leads to impatience with God, which in turn leads to impatience with God’s people.
• What do we usually do when we begin to feel that heat?
• We complain to anyone who will listen!
• We lash out at each other because of the pressure that we are feeling.
• In v. 9 James issues another command, “Don’t grumble.”
• Apparently this is an internal problem for James says, “one against another, Brethren.”
• This addresses the human tendency when subjected to oppression and injustice to lash out at those nearest them.
• James says this behavior must be abandoned.
• Luke 6:37 reads, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged: condemn not, and you shall not be condemned: forgive, and you shall be forgiven.”
• Paul speaks of the believers presence at the judgment seat in 2 Cor. 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
• Judging one another is a bad idea considering the nearness of the heavenly judge.
• James says, “Look Christ may return at any time, he is literally standing at the door. He may open the door at any minute and walk in, so He had better find you waiting patiently, standing firm and not grumbling against Him or one another, or else you will be judged!”
• To avoid grumbling to others, here are some steps you can take.
• Be careful to think first
• Be careful to pray first.
• Be careful to show love (1 Cor. 13:4)
• Be careful to find out the facts
• Be careful to consider our example
• Be careful to remember our Obligation.
• “forgive as we have been forgiven.”
Closing
Let me recap all this for you before we close.
First, when we are tempted to lose patience – remember it will be worth the wait.
Second, when we are tempted to lose perspective – strengthen your relationship with the Lord.
And Finally, when we are tempted to blame others – grumbling will not help!
