Godly patience and endurances part 2

We're going to approach the scriptures today a little differently than I've ever taught before. And I hope it works. I don't know. Number one, I'm standing in front of you. But if you'll notice, this is not quite the same, even though it's part two, as the text that we had last week. We found out And I'm reviewing the first 11 verses, but we're going to be focusing most of all on verse 12 today. And I'm not sure how this method of teaching is going to work, so try to be patient, okay? Let's see how it works. Let's read the text. I really believe firmly in reading the text first.

Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient, and that's a command. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. It's imminent.

Don't complain, brethren, against one another. that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. And I don't know if you notice or not, but remember last week, the words is plural. Yeah, I know. Okay, we'll get to that.

As an example, brethren of suffering and patience. Take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, We count those blessed who endured. You've heard of the endurance of Job, haven't you? And have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and of mercy. But above all, brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath But let your yes be yes, your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

For clarification, one of the best translations that I have found that extends the text in the process of interpretation is Uist. I'd like to, if you don't mind, take a look at Uist's expanded translation. Remember now, this is not what God said. This is an amplification of what God has said.

Be long-suffering, patiently enduring the mistreatment of others, restraining your soul from the passion of anger. Therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Consider this. The farmer waits with expectation for the patiently waiting, longing and hoping over it until the time in which it, the Earth, may receive an early and a late rain. As for you, you also belong suffering, patiently enduring the mistreatment of others, restraining your soul from the passion of anger. That's quite an amplification, isn't it? Stabilize your hearts because the coming of the Lord has drawn near. Notice he looks at this and interprets it correctly. It has become near, okay? It's nearer every day, isn't it? It's eminent.

Stop complaining, brethren, about one another in order that you may not be judged. Consider this. The judge has taken his stand before the doors. Take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, brethren, as an example of suffering and of patience under the mistreatment of others. Put your thought upon this.

We consider those who patiently remain under their trials spiritually prosperous and fortunate. We do that, don't we? When they endure. You heard of the patience of Job, how he patiently remained under the trials to which he was subjected. And you saw the consummation of those trials brought about by the Lord, by the way. that the Lord is compassionate and merciful. And then the verse that we're going to focus the most on today, if I can get this to work.

There it is. But especially, my brethren, stop the practice of putting yourselves under oath. Notice that? That's quite an amplification. Neither by the heaven nor by the earth nor by any other oath, but be letting your yes be yes, and your no be no, in order that you may not fall under judgment.

I would disagree with that, but that's okay, we'll get to that, okay? Come on, baby, there you go. Let's take a look at verse seven, and this is by way of review, so be patient, we'll get there. But I'm going to ask some questions. Why is the therefore used? Do you remember? OK, I'm not going to wait too long. But you said it sums up what was previously said. That's right.

In this case, James has just shown that wealthy farmers were not paying their workers, among whom was the righteous. OK. ignoring them and their needs. Not good. And they did that because they were greedy. They didn't want to part with their money. And this is one way to get rich, isn't it? You don't pay for the work somebody does for you. This injustice was one source of suffering that the people he was writing to were familiar with. They understood that.

How long are believers to be patient? That's the next question. That's a trick question. It says until the coming of the Lord. That's right. And that's a good answer. Until the coming of the Lord. And I put a plus sign there. Not just His coming, no suffering. And probably the best part, full harmony with God. Isn't that wonderful? What a future we have. Remember last week Andrew shared that the believers were, quote, growing restless with the seeming delay of Christ's return and had to be exhorted here to be and remain patient.

Now he got that out of a book by Gerald B. Stanton. The title of the book is Kept from the Hour. I cannot emphasize enough to you how this has changed my life as a book. But more than that, I sat under Dr. Stanton at Biola in the back of the Church of the Open Door underneath the balcony.

We had our class on Christian foundations. And when he said the Holy Spirit is living in my body right now, I said, you mean he's right here right now? I stood up. I walked out of the class. I couldn't handle it. I said, I'll be back. And I walked down to First Things Square and sat on the bench with, you know how First Things Square is like a park, if you were to go to Bible Park, you'd sit on a bench. And I talked to people about the Lord. I had people asking me, why are you here? I mean, I was radiating with joy.

I'll never forget that experience of realizing that God has taken up a home in our bodies. In Corinthians it says that our bodies are now the holy of holies. Wow. Isn't that something? I'm saying all that because it's personal. You cannot go wrong in reading that book. It's available on Amazon if you choose to follow up on that. Why is being patient a major theme throughout this letter? Have you thought about that? Aren't the believers there undergoing trials? Right. And that's being patient under trials. Right, right. And my answer is we see that they were suffering under the greed of wealthy farmers. They wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise. And they were impatient about the coming of the Lord. So they had two things going on, didn't they?

Okay, this is, again, review, but sometimes it's good just to spell it out, so I'll try to do that. There are two perspectives here in James, and I hope you didn't miss them. Number one, patience is to be free of the oppression of sinners. And that can be from unbelievers and believers. I don't know if you're aware of that, but that's really true. Many times we criticize one another to the point of suffering. It is painful to be misunderstood.

And secondly, patience to enjoy the presence of our Lord and His coming. That's the parousia. That's what that word really means, His presence. He is coming, isn't He? Now let's look at verse 8. What? That command again? Be patient? Why? Why do you suppose he put it there? Because God wants us all to be of strong hearts of confidence that he's going to bring us into his presence. Not only is he coming, but we're going. It's a two-way street, isn't it? There's a harmony there, a union. He longs to give us that blessing. So, why is God delaying the return of Christ? Why is this a delay? Have you thought about that? It's not time. Huh? It's not time. Well, but why is it not time? I mean, that's a good answer. Good answer. Not time. But why is it not time?

Well, the word picture here is of God's perspective, I think. He lives in reality. I think we live in a partial reality. We are only in a, if you will, revelation that fits our bodies. God is infinite and his body, if you want to use that word, is infinite. It's beyond this environment.

He does not want anyone to be separated from him. And he's the perfect example of patience in love. His patience is toward us in this way, that all who hear of him may come to him. That's the basis of his patience. That's his perspective. Do you remember what Andrew said was the word picture that God uses here? Do you remember what he said? His coming is near and here is the word picture. It's like a snow bank that accumulates flecks of snow, building an overhanging pile of purified water. That's what snow is. Each flake is unique in making the overhanging snow heavier and heavier. That's the word picture. It's God's perspective.

Have you thought about that? The Lord is not slow about His promise to come, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you. Not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Do you remember when we taught that in 2 Peter, verse 9 of chapter 3? That's what we got, didn't we? Is our heart strong in trust that God's ways are wise? That's what this verse is saying. Strengthen your heart.

Do we believe that he knows when all who will trust him and his work of love, when all that will come have come to him? Boy, isn't that something? I don't know if you can grasp this, how great that is, but there is a point, isn't there? where the last person who will believe, believes. In a way, Roy, that's a scary thought, because you think of many people you don't know that don't know Him, and you think, what if that happens and they haven't said yes?

Right. But I'm glad that God is patient. Exactly. Amen. We need to think the way God thinks, don't we? We need to accept that as our thought as well. Okay, let me see if I can get this. Okay, verse nine. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the doors. Why is the jump here from God's patience to inner complaining between us? Why did he jump? Why did he do that? Again, this is God's perspective.

He wants us to stop looking at ourselves as imperfect, and to the point of being annoying, by the way, and I thought Andrew did a beautiful job of giving us an example. You know, Lucy and Charlie Brown, and she's holding the football for him to kick, and he kicks, and the football's not there anymore. Good grief, he says, right? That's the kind of a word picture used here.

So, what is God's perspective again? Remember that when we read in 2 Peter these words, these words are about Lot. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly He calls Job godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous, Sodom and Gomorrah, under punishment for the day of judgment. Remember that was in verse 9 of chapter 2 of 2 Peter. We remember that, I hope, right? Remember it? Okay. By the way, 2 Peter ends this way. Look. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

That's God's desire. Why is the judge standing in front of the doors? Why is that? God is the perfect wise judge and we are not to take his position as judges. So that's the first part of the answer to that question. What does God want us to see here? Stop looking at the imperfections of each other. You're taking God's position when you do that. That's what he wants us to see.

But there's more. He will perfectly judge, just like he did with Job, both the believing and unbelieving when he comes. And it will be in that order. First, with rewards at the rapture, and second, with punishment at the great white throne. Isn't that something? Always, though, in wisdom, his perfect love must separate good from evil. And that's the process going on here. That's why we're here. Verse 10.

For an example, brethren of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Why the example of the prophets? My answer? Remember, these are Jewish believers, aren't they? And they knew the history of the prophets. That's what they had learned. That God appointed them to speak to them with his messages. That's the function of a prophet.

What does the word here used for suffering point out? It's a different kind of a word. This is the word that means physical suffering of pain and the emotional suffering of being unjustly blamed for sins you didn't commit by wise and unwise close friends.

And boy did Job have a lot of those around, didn't he? They had advice that you would I don't know, you probably wouldn't hear that many words today. But in effect, the same thing would be said of us in that kind of a situation. However, the ultimate here is what does the word use here for patience point out? Because this is, I think, what God is wanting us to look at. This word means to live under, to endure under, to take the pain without even understanding why it's happening.

And what was the function God gave his prophets? What are they the example of? They were to speak on behalf of God himself, to be his representative, weren't they? And what was the content that a prophet was to speak? The very reputation of God is what they spoke. His ways with us is what they spoke.

His love for us, including the love to separate us from all evil so that we may enjoy His righteousness of perfection. I'm rushing a little bit because I want to get to verse 12. Behold, we count those blessed who endured You've heard of the endurance of Job and seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Why did God use the command, Behold, here? He wanted really these believers to focus on God's ways with us, that he blesses and rewards those who correctly endure undeserved suffering. And who is the you here? The ones to whom this letter is addressed are the scattered Jewish believers.

Perfect example, isn't it, of suffering to endure. And what have these heard and seen? Key words. That Job endured undeserved sufferings correctly. and that God's way with him was a revelation of God's very nature. This verse says it. And what was the revelation of God's nature that was seen in the example of Joe? What are the two words here? You looking? Compassion and merciful. Right.

That God is filled, it's an important modifier, completely with compassion and mercy towards us. His love is sensitive. That word compassion means he's sensitive. He feels when we suffer. I don't know how to put that into understanding myself. The infinite God is pain. But one example I can think of is Paul on the road to Damascus said, or heard God say, Why are you persecuting me? Isn't that something?

His love covers our reactions to undeserved suffering. He does not condemn us when we sin. He restores us with cleansing for our sins, by paying for our sins with the very suffering of Christ on the cross. And he provides his joy of fellowship with him by uniting us with himself. We are now a part of his family. Where do we realize this? 1 John 1 says, if we acknowledge what we know to be true reality, he is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Isn't that something? Yeah, Jim?

I have been studying, actually, for about the last two or three weeks, about the prodigal son. The father was not ashamed and not repulsed by his son's smell. He smelled like pigs, which were repulsive to the Jew. He smelled like pigs. He was filthy. and dressed in rags, but his father was not repulsed by that. He put his arms around him, and he kissed him. You know something?

God is just the same way with us. Right. He's not repulsed by our sin. Right. But he loves us, and he's compassionate towards us. Right. And he longed to show fellowship, didn't he? Yeah, that's just amazing to me. Yeah. Because we are repulsed by filth and dirt. I agree 100%, Jim. Let me read verse 12 to us. 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, so that you may not fall into judgment. Here's some questions.

Why is this but above all used here? My answer is because God has a message here. that's very, very important, more of value than any earthly examples that he's just given, any of them. This is God's gem. God wants us to focus on his work, right? We don't want to lift up Job and put him on a pedestal. We want to lift up God and worship him. And that's why, above all, is the preface to this verse.

And who are the brethren? Well, we've already identified these are the personal family members of God, aren't they? Jewish believers who have a personal relationship with each other because of a common parent, God is our Father. And we share that message today. It's to us as well. He has united us into this family, hasn't he? With himself as a head and us as the body.

And what's meant by, do not swear? That is a command also. It is actually in a negative. It really means, stop doing this! Okay? Now let's assume it's already gone on. The text actually brings that out. And look at Weiss' translation. I remember this is an expansion.

Stop the practice of putting yourselves under oath. Stop it. Apparently it was going on. Jewish listeners would understand this to mean to stop telling people that you speak under the authority of another. God's careful to give further hope to us on how this is to be understood by what he says next. Oops, what happened? Oh, I don't know. OK, either by all I know there's this is the second half. I'm sorry.

What does either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath mean? It's speaking under the authority of things that God has made versus God himself. And apparently that was a practice of the day when this was written. But were they unique in doing that?

No. I don't think so. We say Mother Earth. Don't we do the same thing? Yeah. We're working for the climate. Look at the examples I could think of. I'm sure you can come up with some more. One way we do this is to say, by scientific fact, the Earth is a certain age. Have you guys done that? I've been taught that. Have you? It's pretty common, isn't it?

And isn't this saying reality is based on our observations now? of things created. And further, I think it is, it reveals that we ignore the clear evidence in creation of God. It does two things, doesn't it? And what's the best that our minds have come to when God is not considered?

Well, I could think of one. When we say, by human logic, Earth, space, that's all there is. Have you heard that? Carl Sagan, famous statement. Okay? That's the best of human logic. That's all there is. It's like putting the Earth in the space around it into a box and saying, here it is folks, that's all there is, and you don't even go beyond that. Well, just real quick, I saw the new telescope they put up, I've forgotten his name now, but it's better than humble, they can see out and they thought there was going to be empty spaces, there's no empty spaces. No. They're saying, well, there's no empty spaces. Of course, they interpret that differently than we do. Right, right. So, to your point.

God has said, however, and I'm going to give his perspective, Christ came and he alone revealed both grace and reality. Look at verse 17 of John 1, and I'll read it for you carefully. For the law was given through Moses, and that's certainly something the Jewish believers could relate to, isn't it? Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ, and that word truth is reality. what is real, everything.

And here's why I say that. Look at Christ before Pilate. Pilate therefore said to him, So you are a king? Jesus answered, You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born. Wow, what a statement. And for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Isn't that something? Only Jesus has brought us reality and we crucify him.

Above all, Brethren, what is that but there for? But, why is there a but? Focusing on that, I answer it to contrast that we may be doing whatever it is that we are doing to what God wants us to know that He values. Remember, He began with, above all else, here's the but. Here's the focus, and that's what we're going to get.

God's command is, let your yes be yes and your no, no. Now what in the world does that mean? Don't be wishy-washy. I believe that that can only be expressed by the nature of God himself. our new nature, Christ's kind. We are new and kind, aren't we? That's who we really are. This shell holds us. And you look at me, you see imperfections galore. But inside is Christ's nature, just like it's inside each of us, in this room especially. It is our nature to reveal reality, not sin.

We got that in 1 John, didn't we? So what does God add to explain here what is above all that he values? God wants us to be and to reveal above all his reality, what is true, whether it is positive or negative. God values most his life expressing both to us and through us what is real. We are made new in his family to be God's expression of reality.

Isn't that a simple message? This is the work that he's prepared for us to be and to do. We are his workmanship, aren't we? Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand. Can you imagine? He hasn't made any of us yet. But here is God and the Father, outside of time, thinking ahead. There's going to be a character called Roy and Jim and Roger and Bob and Dave and Patty, each one of us, for us to walk in. Here's what I want them to do. Isn't that something?

That's what it says in Ephesians 2.10. What does so that you may not fall under judgment mean? That's the last phrase, isn't it? Well, a literal translation here is a little different than least and certainly different than New American Standard. But if you take a look at just the Greek words, it says, so that not into hypocrisy you may fall, which would be speaking unreality, isn't it? That's hypocrisy.

God wants what is real to be seen in us, doesn't he? He wants us to radiate his nature that he's given us. And by the way, are his eyes faulty when he looks at us? No. And I think that's why they translated it the way they did. They were thinking of this verse over in Hebrews, I think. It says, there is no creature hidden from his sight. All things are open and laid bare before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. and Tuesday Bible study we were covering that verse very recently, weren't we? I don't know, did we get that far? I don't remember. I'm going to remind you of an illustration that James was led to use in this book of God's work that we can learn from because his ways have not shifted.

They have not changed since he made the first human couple. He has dealt with humanity this way. So he's dealing with our new in kind bodies now the same way. But James is very careful to talk about himself first. He says, I'm a bondservant of God now. and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who can give that testimony more intimately than James and Jude, the two that have written two books in the Bible, the half-brothers of our Lord—unbelievers until he is crucified, critical of him until he is crucified, and endeavoring to walk as him being their Lord after he's crucified, recognizing, I grew up with God. Wow! Can you imagine the thought processes he had? And God dealt with him mercifully, didn't he? Patiently. Oh, I tell you, it is something to think of James.

Abraham, 40 years after God promised him that he would be a blessing that he would multiply him, and that everyone in the earth would be blessed through him. After he got that promise, God told him, go sacrifice your son. Did he believe that God had changed his mind, or did he believe that God did not change his mind? The Scriptures say, when his son asked, here's the wood, Where's the lamb? It's that God will provide the lamb. Isn't that something? And God attributed that to him as a mark of righteousness, didn't he? Wow. What an example of God's ways with us. Rahab.

What did she have to lose when she hid the spies? Her life. The whole city of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted those wives. They wanted to live, didn't they? But she trusted God. And God was faithful to her. And her and her family were the only ones that lived through the walls coming down.

Job, we just talked about. We count him blessed. who endure it, don't we? But what an example he was, with friends all around him that he trusted, saying, you must have sinned, or God wouldn't have done this to you. No. And what did God say to him? Where were you when I formed the world? Yes, he was rebuked, but was he loved?

Yeah, how much? more than before, more wealth than he had before, humanly speaking. And finally, we have Elijah in James. We're going to get to him. But he was persecuted too, wasn't he? Baal worship was common in the land. And an awful lot of persecution came upon him, didn't it? But he endured it. The emphasis today was on God's most valuable thing today. And if you leave with nothing else but this, it'll be a success, I think.

The expression of his character in and through our mortal bodies, speaking what is real while living in harmony with God. That's what verse 12 is all about. Okay? That's what God says is the most important, valued thing. And James picked up on it by direction of the Holy Spirit to say, this is the most important thing. More than all these examples, more than all this discussion, God wants to express His character through our physical bodies. Isn't that something? and for us to live in harmony with Him is the basis of that, isn't it?

Well, I've given you in the remaining slides my translation work and all of that stuff that you do. Okay? I don't have time to read the verses and I don't even have space to put them on the screen. But on the top here is the New American Standard, on the bottom is Weiss from verse 9 on. Let me read in conclusion in a translation of verse 7.

Be patient therefore brethren until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits the precious harvest of the earth, being patient about it himself until it receives rain early and late. You be patient also. You strengthen the hearts of you because the coming of the Lord is near.

Stop complaining against one another, brothers, in order that ye be not judged. Behold, the judge is before the doors. He has taken his stand. Example? Take, brothers of me, of the endurance and patience of the prophets, those who spoke by the name of the Lord. Behold, we regard as blessed in these enduring ones the perseverance of Job you've heard of and the results of the Lord you have seen, that compassionate he is and merciful. But above all, my brothers, stop swearing under an oath, not under the heaven, not under the earth, but not under any other vow.

That is, let reality be revealed of you. The yes, be yes. The no, be no. So that if not into hypocrisy, you may fall. That's the whole basis of this lesson. I'm going to just put it up one more time to show you that's it. And just so you know, online All of the exegesis looks like this. Follows, okay. But I'm not going to go into that. All right. I just put it up there. Some people like that and they follow it. Nerds like me, I guess.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the time together. I sort of wanted to have discussion, but I guess the time is limited and so we're here, aren't we? Dependent on you to implant in us your grace and the measure of it, we appreciate so much. Watch over everyone here, we pray, that they may indeed be speaking out of the nature you've given us and living in harmony with you. In Christ's name, amen. Amen.