"BE PATIENT AND STAND FIRM…" (Outline)
December 13, 2009 -
ADVENT 3 -
James 5:7-11
INTRO: Soon and very soon the Lord Jesus Christ will return as the righteous Judge of the living and the dead. At times we grow impatient waiting for the end to all of the wickedness in this sinful world. We wonder, “How long?” Yet, we also always know that as the Lord has made his promise so he will some day fulfill that promise. Until that day when we will see him face-to-face we are to be patient. We are also to stand firm on God’s word and all of his promises. "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 CORINTHIANS 15:58).
"BE PATIENT AND STAND FIRM, BECAUSE THE LORD’S COMING IS NEAR".
I. Wait watchfully.
II. The Lord is near.
I. "BE PATIENT AND STAND FIRM…” WE WAIT WATCHFULLY
A. The book of James can be summed up with the theme: “A Call to Repentance”.
1. Chapter 5 begins with words of warning against the wickedness of the wealthy.
2. The wealthy were abusing their prosperity. They were cheating and mistreating others.
B. Verse 7a. The believers were to be patient with one another as they waited for the Lord’s return.
1. Verse 7b. Patience is defined and described. The farmer plants the see and waits, watchfully.
2. The farmer waits for the rains. The farmer waits for God to provide in his good time.
3. The farmer cannot change the weather. He cannot make it rain. He waits watchfully.
C. Verse 8. These believers would also wait watchfully. They stood firm in the knowledge of salvation.
D. Today believers still watch and wait and wait and watch. The Lord would have us remember to be patient, patient, patient. This is not always easy in our day and age. We live in a society that enjoys almost instant gratification. Microwaves heat up a cup of liquid to boiling in a minute. Sometimes that seems too long. The Internet connects us with the rest of the world. Messages can be sent, received, and read in seconds around the globe. Sometimes seconds seem too long. We look around and the wicked appear to prosper more than ever before. Our world seems to be upside down. God’s truth is called a lie. Man’s lie becomes the truth. "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes" (PSALM 37:7). God is still in control.
E. Why is our world so wicked? Why is our world seemingly so opposite of what is right and just? It is sin. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They brought wickedness, rebellion, and sin into God’s perfect creation. Ever since that first sin the world continues in a downward spiral. Their son Cain kills Abel. How quickly sin infected the lives and hearts of humanity: Pride, disobedience, envy, anger, and murder. Our world will never get any better but only worse. Jesus taught how bad the world would be before his return on Judgment Day. "Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved" (MATTHEW 24:11-13). Man’s love for God has grown cold. Then man’s love for his fellow man grows cold. Finally even man’s love for his own family grows cold. The patient, faithful will be saved.
F. We still wonder, “how much worse will the world become?” The Lord says evil will become almost unbearable. This reminds each of us to keep looking up. We will want to always wait and watch for the blessed return of our Lord Jesus Christ. This waiting and watching and being patient is not always easy. The world distracts us. The devil detours our thoughts. Our own sinful flesh interrupts our watching. "I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD" (LAMENTATIONS 3:24-26). Find your quiet time and a quiet to consider patiently the Lord’s return.
"BE PATIENT AND STAND FIRM, BECAUSE THE LORD’S COMING IS NEAR".
Wait and watch.
II. "BE PATIENT AND STAND…" THE LORD IS NEAR
A. Verse 8. Wait, watch, be patient, and stand firm. Such is God’s advice because he will return, soon.
B. Verse 9. James reminds the believers not to grumble against one another. They were united in Christ.
1. There was grumbling between the wealthy and poor. The wealthy were mistreating the poor.
2. There was a challenge between the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers.
a. Jews and Gentiles were different nations. b. There were huge cultural differences.
3. In the end, the Lord – the Judge, would sort out all of the matters in the hearts of believers.
C. Verse 10. The prophets never gave up, even in the face of suffering. Patiently they endured.
1. Verse 11. Job was the example that went even beyond patience. Job persevered.
2. Job lost everything earthly: herds, flocks, property, and family. Job did not give up.
3. Job knew that the Lord was near. Job still had his life. Job still had God’s gift of faith.
D. You and I know that the Lord is near. Judgment Day is much, much closer compared to that time when Jesus first taught about his return. Key in our text today is to understand that the Lord is near to each and every believer each and every day. The prophets knew that the Lord was with them. Job also knew that the Lord was always near to him. Nothing has changed over all the generations that have come and gone. The Lord is near to us. Paul preached to unbelievers how even they recognized the closeness of a creator. "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. `For in him we live and move and have our being.’" (ACTS 16:27,28a). The Lord is near: Judgment Day and daily life. Believers are temples of the Holy Spirit.
E. Our great comfort and encouragement as believers comes from knowing that the Lord is near. In the Lord each of truly do “live and move and have our being”. We also know that the Lord is near as Judgment Day approaches. It is not always easy for us be waiting and watching thinking the Lord is at hand. We get so busy with our day-to-day living that our eternal thinking is not as clear as it ought to be.
"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 PETER 4:7,8). We pray that the Lord would keep our thoughts and eyes focused on that above. We pray that Lord would help us to live lives of love for God. We pray that the Lord would move us to live lives of love for our fellow man.
F. Be patient and stand firm. We stand firm on that word of God that does not change. God’s word reminds each of us that the Lord will return. The Lord Jesus will return on a throne of glory to judge the living and the dead. Jesus will also separate the sheep (believers) from the goats (unbelievers). For the unbelievers that Last Day will be an unexpected and unwanted surprise. Not so for believers. "But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness" (1 THESSALONIANS 5:3,4).
CONC.: Our world grows more and more wicked with the passing of every second, minute, hour, day, and generation. The darkness increases. As lights we still wait watching for the Lord’s return. Even a single, small light chases away darkness. As the darkness increases may our light always shine all the more brightly. We shine with the power of the Lord. We shine by the grace of God. "Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (ISAIAH 30:18). Daily the Lord rises to shine us that we may reflect the Lord’s light. "BE PATIENT AND STAND FIRM, BECAUSE THE LORD’S COMING IS NEAR". By faith we wait watchfully. The Lord is near – every day. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
ADVENT 3 rdgs:
ZEPHANIAH 3:14-17;
PHILIPPIANS. 4:4-7;
LUKE 3:7-18;
(PSALM 130)
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