FRIEND OR FOE?
JAMES 5:7 12
James began his letter with a call to persevere...to stand strong under trial...and we saw that holding up through afflictions and difficulties is actually the pathway to maturity. His conclusion opens with the same theme, set in the same context. He encourages us to stand strong by holding before us the prospects of the last days. Read v. 7 9
In verses 7 8 we expect a coming Lord...in verse 9, there is a judge already at the door... I want us to examine ourselves this morning and determine just what it is that will be awaiting us when these last day events take place in all their fullness.
Taking these verses as a whole, we see that the Lord comes bringing divine compassion and mercy...the judge comes bringing judgment. What will you be facing on that great day...will it be a friend or a foe?
The coming of the Lord is an expected event...and our main source of information regarding this is Jesus Himself. We have a sure foundation for our expectant faith because Jesus clearly taught that He would come again.
It would happen on a day which cannot be known in advance, and it will bring about a separation or taking away of the people of God. Those who are in Christ will be gathered forever to be with Him and would be made fully alive in Christ.
Now, to unbelievers, the expectation of the Lord's return is a matter for cynical doubt and dismissal...but to believers, this hope of His coming gives us a strong call to endure, to hang in there...and to prepare for His coming by living a life of holiness. At least it should!
It's interesting that all James needs to say to his readers is that the Lord is coming. He doesn't enter into any long explanations and descriptions...he just assumes that they know all about it because it was a familiar truth to the New Testament church.
There's about 300 references in the N.T. about the coming of the Lord...one for every 13 verses from Matthew to Revelation. Those early believers were certain of His soon coming, and their heart's desire was not to be ashamed when it did take place. This was their number one concern in life...to be ready when He came for them...and it should be in our thoughts too.
It's also important to note that James intended the expectation of the coming of the Lord to bring comfort and even a great sense of joy to those believers. They were going through a lot of stresses and strains, and they needed the reminder that His coming would put an end to all of Satan's opposition and make suffering a thing of the past.
But there is another side to this expected coming...because the judge is standing at the door. Now, James is speaking to Christians. And he's stating a truth that we find easy, even convenient to forget...but one that is central to the N.T. revelation of the returning Lord. And once again, James doesn't have to prove or elaborate his point.
The teaching of the Lord Jesus is again our starting point. Similar parables are found in Matthew 25:14 30 and Luke 19:11 27. Each concerns itself with servants entrusted with their master's goods during his absence...and each includes the master's return with questions about the way the servants carried out their obligations.
And in each parable the one who claimed to be a servant but wasn't, is exposed! This matches the teaching about the return of Christ which says that there will be a separation one will be taken the other left. (Matt 24:40 41).
But in each parable the real focus of attention is on the servants who really were servants...and what they had to show to the master...they had to present the fruits of their service to him at the judgment seat.
So, when Jesus comes again, every Christian will stand before Him to give an account. And what's in question is not our salvation but our rewards. (Great White Throne Judgment...)
In the parables, Jesus speaks of servants who each receive the same amount of money to trade with in Luke 19:13 it was 10 minas. At the end they are invited to bring the fruits of their work for the Lord's inspection.
This speaks to us of those things each Christian possesses...salvation, the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures, the gospel message, etc. What have we done with these since we've received them? What gains have we made? Have we grown in holiness and maturity? Do we know the Scriptures in an ever increasing way? How many others have we told about Christ?
But in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, the thought is different. Individual Christians have different abilities...or as we say, talents. These are God given. And the thrust of the Lord's teaching here touches on our consecration...have we devoted every individual talent we've been given to Him and His service?
Each and every one of you have been given at least one spiritual gift...and it's your responsibility to find out what it and use it for His glory. But we ought to note how positive the judgment is supposed to be. The returning lord in the parables is looking for what he can praise...and when he finds it, his praise is immediate and warm.
The judgment seat of Christ was never meant to be something that brought fear and dread...but the hope of reward for faithfulness. This judge is our own loving, caring Savior...and our constant thought should be how we can delight Him at His coming by having something of eternal, lasting value to lay at His feet.
(It's kind of like me being given care of my house and children while Laura is away. When she comes home, what will she find she arrives at the house?
If there are piles of dirty dishes in the sink...clothes all over...beds unmade, house a mess, I'll be in a heap of trouble because there would be no excuse for it. I'm perfectly capable of keeping things in order while she's away. If that's what she came back to it would be like me saying "I knew you were coming but having things in order wasn't really important to me.)
And when we stand before the Lord at the Judgment seat, we're going to give clear evidence of just how important the things of God are in our daily lives. There is one thing that James stresses regarding the coming of the Lord and the coming judge...the coming is at hand...the judge is at the doors.
Nearly 2,000 years have passed since James wrote those words, and still the Lord has not come...the judge has not stepped over the threshold. So what are we to think of James' words? Even if the Lord were to come tomorrow, it would still be a lapse of many centuries since James insisted that His coming was near. This is certainly not what we would call nearness.
C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia....(Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe) children slip through the magic wardrobe and engage in what are months and years of Narnian adventures, yet when they return, earth time in not perceptively moved on.
This is the way Peter saw the problem of the Lord's imminent return...and offered the Bible's authoritative solution. God is not reneging or procrastinating in His promise that Jesus will come soon. His time scale and ours are not concurrent. What we call delay is in fact outward evidence of God's merciful desire that none should be unready when Jesus comes.
Scoffers may scoff...but the day will come. Jesus insisted that the date of His return is unknown and unknowable. And so He called us to a constant state of readiness. The N.T. underlines the need for an expectant spirit...and James 5:7 9 is as good an example as we could ask for.
This kind of readiness, and anticipation, and desire for His coming is really the mark of faith. When it comes to the second coming of the Lord, our first responsibility is not to make up a calendar of the future and to predict as close as we can when He will come. Our single purpose is to look at our hearts and lives to see whether we are ready to stand before Him without shame and to His praise, glory and pleasure.
James' doctrine of the Christian life is a doctrine of process, or growth. We don't just drift into holiness...we grow into holiness. It's just like a garden...the growth is a process and patience is a central ingredient.
James is faithfully warning us against the old enemy of inconsistency. He looks for a heart that is fixed on the harvest...fixed on the returning Lord...a heart that leaves no room for a double mind.
Whatever our lifestyle, the heart lies at the center. It's either the focus of indulgence or the focus of determination to be faithful to Him. We can forfeit the entire harvest by failing to have a true, sustained commitment. So we need to watch our hearts and keep them focused on Him.
We would be extremely lacking in understanding if we didn't realize that James' words in these few verses have a great application to us today. Within the Old Testament it's clearly stated that it's easier to make a vow than to fulfill it.
I have to tell you that I've heard quite a few vows, or promises which are the same things, being made around here. I've heard promises of commitment...promises to serve...promises to use certain gifts and talents, and I'm sure there are far more made that I didn't hear about. But where is the fruit of those pledges...most of which were made sincerely?
Throughout the O.T. the warning is given that "when you make a vow to God, don't delay fulfilling it...because he has no pleasure in fools (Eccl. 5:4). This is so close to what James is saying that it may well have been on his mind when he wrote it. Our stresses give rise to some unreal promises to God...and often made in a sincere and solemn way.
But for James, just as it is throughout the entire Bible, those promises are taken seriously...and you better begin to do what you say you'll do. It's definitely not unusual for a Christian to make a whole host of unfulfilled promises to God. But you will be held accountable for each one.
For James the main concern is simple...to say yes and mean it, or to say no and mean it, is a matter of integrity and character. We shouldn't be double minded. What will it be when you stand before Him?
