SERMON OUTLINE:
Example #1: The Farmer. (vs 7-9)
Example #2: The Prophets (vs 10).
Example #3: Job (vs 11):
SERMON BODY
Ill:
• A little boy was standing at the end of an escalator.
• His eyes focussed of the handrail.
• The shop assistant asked, “Son are you lost?”
• He replied, “No, I am just waiting for my chewing gum to come back down.”
• TRANSITION: A kid with creativity and patience!
Ill:
• George Mallory was the famous British mountaineer and explorer.
• He may well have been the first person ever to reach the top of Mount Everest.
• In the early 1920’s he led a number of attempts to scale the Mount Everest,
• Eventually being killed in 1924 aged 37 in his third attempt.
• Before that last and fatal attempt, he had said these words:
• “I can’t see myself coming down defeated.”
• Well, sadly for him, he was defeated!
• George Mallory went missing in 1924 and it took 75 years for anyone to find his body.
• His body was found in 1999, 27,000 feet up the mountain,
• It was well preserved by the snow and ice,
• He was just 2000 feet from the peak.
• Give up he did not.
• His body was found face down on a rocky slope, head toward the summit.
• His arms were extended high over his head.
• His toes were pointed into the mountain; his fingers dug into the loose rock,
• Refusing to let go even as he drew his last breath.
• A short length of cotton rope – broken – was looped around his waist.
He had a team of people waiting for him further down the mountain:
• Months later that that team returned to England.
• And a banquet was held for them.
• A huge picture of Mt Everest stood behind the banquet table.
• It is said that the leader of the group stood to be applauded,
• And with tears streaming down his face, turned and looked at the picture.
“I speak to you, Mt Everest, in the name of all brave men living and those yet unborn” he said. “Mt Everest, you defeated us once; you defeated us twice; you defeated us three times. But Mt Everest, we shall someday defeat you, because you can’t get any bigger, but we can.”
• Those words found their fulfilment in 1953 when two climbers.
• Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzig Norgay, reached the top
• TRANSITION: When I read this story this week,
• I was struck by that line of the speech:
• “We shall someday defeat you, because you can’t get any bigger, but we can.”
• As Christians we need to develop patience,
• Otherwise, we remain spiritual dwarves when God wants us to become spiritual giants!
• We CAN get ‘bigger’ in character.
• But there are no short cuts, we need to learn patience!
• Patience, like most Christian characteristics,
• Is one of those character traits that grows over time,
• It is never something we get given to us overnight.
• To help us hang on in there and be patient & endure?
• James gives us three examples of those who were patient and endured.
Example #1: The Farmer. (vs 7-9)
“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”
Ill:
• Dairy farmer John Duffield was milking his cow in Shepperton, Surrey.
• He was just starting to get a good rhythm going,
• When a bug flew into the barn and started circling his head.
• Suddenly, the bug flew into the cow's ear.
• Farmer Duffield didn't think much about it, until the bug squirted out into his bucket.
• Duffield said, "It went in one ear and out the udder."
• TRANSITION: One of the great things with the letter of James are his illustrations:
• Unlike my corny jokes, James simple stories are self-explanatory.
• Everyday images that we all understand.
• Verses 7-9 remind us that farming takes time.
• Nature is never in a hurry!
Ill:
• Some of you know that my wife Penny has had an allotment.
• It’s a bit extravagant as they charge £12.50 a year for the plot of land!
• But hey! Sometimes you just have to splash out!
• One thing she has learnt is this:
• You can’t hurry nature!
• Nature is sloooooow - but it is very rewarding to those who wait.
• Nature is unhurried:
• You begin by preparing the ground.
• You plant the seed.
• You wait and you wait, and you wait and you…etc.
• And then months later when you least expect it.
• Wow! There’s a strawberry or a cucumber or load of runner beans etc!
James uses the picture of a farmer to illustrate the necessity and reward for patience:
• When the farmer goes out to plant his seeds,
• He knows that he is going to have a long, long wait.
• Before he will get to see the fruit of his labour.
Example #2: The Prophets (Vs 10).
“Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”
Ill:
• Elijah is one of the best loved prophets in Judaism,
• And as Christians we also love the narrative of his life and exploits.
• On one occasion a Sunday school teacher,
• Was carefully explaining the story of Elijah the Prophet and the false prophets of Baal.
• She explained how Elijah built the altar, put wood upon it,
• Cut the oxen in pieces and laid it upon the altar.
• And then Elijah commanded the people of God to fill four barrels of water,
• And pour it over the altar and he had them do this four times.
• Then the Sunday School teacher asked a question,
“Can anyone in the class tell me why the Lord would have Elijah pour water over the steer on the altar?”
• A little girl in the back of the room raised her hand with great enthusiasm.
• “To make the gravy,” came her enthusiastic reply.
• TRANSITION: Okay, back to the important!
• The prophets were of course God’s messengers.
• People we find in our Old Testament i.e., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah etc.
• They spoke and preached “in the name of the Lord”.
• Yet they were persecuted and mistreated.
• i.e., Jewish tradition (not the bible) says that, Isaiah.
• Was sawed in half with a wooden saw by the evil king Manasseh.
• Many believe the reference in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 37 refers to Isaiah.
• i.e., Jeremiah to have him beaten and put in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:1-2).
• Another time he was by ropes into a well (cistern),
• And there he sank into a layer of mud (Jeremiah 38:1-6).
• i.e., Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest,
• Was stoned to death for rebuking the people who turned aside to idols.
• (2 Chron 24:16-22).
Note:
• These prophets were all in the will of God!
• We might say, ‘right bang in the middle of God’s will.’
• Yet, this did not save them from persecution, in fact it was the very cause of it!
• Many of the prophets had to endure great trials and sufferings.
• Not just at the hands of unbelievers.
• But also, at the hands of professed believers!
Question: Why did God allow it?
Answer:
• As we have noted in earlier studies of this letter.
• God uses our sufferings for our good i.e., to develop Christ-like character.
• And for the blessing of others.
• The testimony of a suffering saint is a powerful witness to those around us.
• ill: Corrie ten Boom.
• ill: Joni Erickson Tada.
• ill: Many of us know people who are battling against bad health or difficult circumstances.
• Quote: Warren Wirestem gives some encouraging words:
• “The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you”.
Example #3: Job (vs 11):
“As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
• When someone exhibits great endurance.
• Through all kinds of trials, annoyances, or provocations,
• We say that person has “the patience of Job.”
• The idiom is applied to:
• Those who nobly persevere in the face of overwhelming hardships.
• And the expression has its origin in this verse (vs 11).
The reason Job is chosen by James as an illustration is:
• Job’s story is extreme in the amount of suffering he endured.
• And remember that he did not know the reason for his suffering.
• i.e., Job lost all of his children (7 sons and 3 daughters) in a single day.
• i.e., He also lost all of wealth when his livestock was destroyed.
• (7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen & 500 donkeys).
• i.e., He lost his health as he was covered in painful sores,
• i.e., And his wife offered him no support.
• In fact, she encouraged him to give up, curse God, and die (Job 2:9).
• i.e., Adding to Job’s pain, his friends falsely accused him of wrongdoing.
• And blamed his troubles on his unrepentant heart.
• Yet, through it all, Job patiently endured (Job 2:10).
• TRANSITION: Job did not realise that behind the scenes between God and Satan.
• Something else was happening.
• In other words, there was a purpose and a meaning to Job’s suffering.
• He might not have understood why – but God did.
Ill:
• On a wall in his bedroom the great Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon had a plaque.
• On the plaque were the words of Isaiah chapter 48 verse 10t:
• "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."
On one occasion he wrote these words:
"It is no mean thing to be chosen of God, God's choice makes chosen men choice men...We are chosen, not in the palace, but in the furnace. In the furnace, beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed; yet here eternal love reveals its secrets and declares its choice."
Note: James also tells us the end purpose of Job’s suffering:
“You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
• Job discovered God to be ‘FULL’ – I like that – not just ‘some’ but ‘full’
• ill: I like a full cup of coffee, a full…
• ill: Psalm 23, “My cup overflows” or “runeth over.”
• Question: ‘Full of what?’
• Answer: ‘Full of compassion and mercy’.
• Job experienced & discovered the character & blessing of God in a unique way
• (In your own time check out Job chapter 42).
To summarise these three illustrations:
• Though it may not seem so now,
• Your present difficulty may actually be instrumental to your future happiness.
Ill:
• The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small uninhabited island.
• He cried out to God to save him,
• Every day he scanned the horizon for help,
• But it was all in vain.
• He built himself a hut for shelter and protection.
• The worked was exhausting but worth it.
• Into the hut, he carefully put his few precious possessions.
• It wasn’t much but it was a home to him.
• One day he went out hunting for food,
• When he arrived home, he found his little hut consumed in flames,
• The smoke was billowing up to the sky.
• It was a hopeless situation, but he tried his hardest to change it!
• Sadly, it was all a waste of time and energy.
• The man collapsed into the sand broken-hearted and exhausted he cried himself to sleep.
• Early the next day, to his amazement, a ship drew near the island and rescued him.
• He asked the crew; “How did you know I was here?”
• They replied:
• “We saw your smoke signal and responded accordingly!”
• Though it may not seem so now,
• Your present difficulty may actually be instrumental to your future happiness.
• TRANSITION: Though it may not seem so now,
• Your present difficulty may actually be instrumental to your future happiness.
• If you don’t believe me – then James would say:
• Ask the farmer or the prophets or Job!
Note: Verse 12:
• This verse feels like an odd fit at this point in chapter 5.
• It doesn't smoothly follow from what James had been writing about.
• Remaining faithful to God in suffering,
• And it doesn't naturally flow into James's teaching on prayer in the next few verses.
He begins by saying "above all," indicating that this is a big deal.
• He then repeats, nearly word for word, Jesus' command.
• About taking oaths as recorded in Matthew chapter 5 verses 34–37.
“But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
I believe James is talking about a practice that was apparently common in this era:
• Taking an oath to convince someone either that you were telling the truth.
• Or that you would keep a promise.
• We have all heard someone say.
• “I swear on my mother’s grave” or “I swear on my life”
• But using such oaths cheapens its ultimate importance.
• If you regularly swear to frivolous things,
• How will we ever know when you are really serious about something?
In the context of this letter:
• It's likely that the taking of oaths had become a way of manipulating people.
• Or allowing wiggle room to get out of some kinds of contracts.
• James is definite:
• For those in Christ, dishonesty is never an option.
• No oaths required.
Now some Christians have read this command.
• As forbidding them from taking oaths in legal settings such as a court.
• Most believers see it as only a limit on personal oaths,
• Especially those used for purposes of deception or manipulation.
• James is definite:
• For those in Christ, dishonesty is never an option.
• No oaths required.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=keu4DGbCuuiStETlkmNC6tCOK5jPQPYg
