James chapter 5, and our reading is in verse 9. Well, let's go back to verse 7. We're going to read verse 7 down to verse 11 to review. Be patient, therefore, brothers, unto the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains? You also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and impatience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You've heard of the steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the Lord. how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. Let us pray together. Lord, we thank you for your holy word. And God, we pray these moments that you'll help us, that you'll give us your instruction. And Lord, we pray that your will will be done in every heart. And we pray for that one who is yet to call upon you as Lord and Savior. We pray today they'll say yes to Jesus. And Father, we just pray You'll be magnified, in Jesus' name we ask, amen. Well, we're returning now to this section here in the book of James, and we're soon to conclude our study, Lord willing. And if you remember, when we looked at this last time we was here, a few weeks ago, in verses 7 through 11 is the subject of patience. And you can see in your Bible how many times you see the word Patient or patience is used some versions use the word steadfastness steadfastness or perseverance and So that's what we have here. We we find ourself. I know that I do I find I need a good dose of patience If you're like we are we're always running out of things We're running out of food and we're running out of gas, we're running out of all kinds of supplies, and sometimes we run pretty low on patience. And so as believers, James writes this letter because he sees that we need patience. And these Christians were facing quite a bit of persecution for their faith in the Lord Jesus. As children of God, we are called upon to be filled with the Spirit. That's very important. Be filled with the Spirit, continually to be filled with the Spirit. And the reason is because of what the Holy Spirit provides us. We read in Galatians chapter 5, for example, in Galatians 5 and verse 22, it says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. And here's what we're talking about here. Patience, and of course there's kindness and there's goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law. So every day you get up, you need some fuel, you need some food, you need to get ready, you need to get ready to go. So, you know, if you're one of those people that skips breakfast, you know, you find out you kind of go down before the day's over with, you know, you need some fuel. And so you need to be ready. You know, our life as a child of God, it's like a marathon race and there's no time to quit. You can't quit on the God. You can't quit on the Lord Jesus. You've got to keep on running the race. And, and Paul spoke about that or the Hebrews writer wrote about this in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse one. says, wherefore, seeing we also are compassionate with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily beset us and let us what run with patience, run with patience the race that is set before us. So this is what we're looking at here in our study of James. And there's four key words I want you to think about as we go through this text here. Number one, is the evidence, I'll begin with the letter E, it helps me to remember a little bit. Evidence, the evidence. Number two, the end. Then number three, the example. And then number four, the encouragement. First of all, to grow in patience, to have more patience, we need to know that there is some evidence, evidence that reveals impatience. And you see there in verse nine, what is the evidence of becoming inpatient? Verse nine says, do not grumble against one another. Brothers, you think, well, sisters were left out of this. Well, really, it means brothers and sisters. All of us do not grumble against one another. Brothers and sister. King James says grudge not grudge, not grumble, not don't complain. A constant grumbling and complaining is evidence that we don't have patience, or we don't have the patience that we should have. Now, there is a legitimate time to be complaining. For example, if your neighbor shoots your dog, you have a legitimate concern and to have a complaint. You go to your neighbor and say, I'm filing a complaint. There's times to do that. I mean, there's times when things happen like that. Somebody steals something from you, you have a legitimate reason to have a complaint. But here's the thing. Go ahead and deal with it and do what you got to do. And then what? Get over it and quit talking about it. Complaining. Well, I think what he's talking about here is this constant grumbling and complaining that's going on. Instead of being forgiving, instead of being understanding and moving on, it's just gripe, gripe, gripe. Do not grumble against one another. There's an example of this in the Old Testament. Moses, man, how did he survive without getting stoned to death? He led these people out of Egypt and they were constantly grumbling. In the book of Exodus, chapter 16, verse 2, it says, The whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. And the people of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out in this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. I mean, the people of Israel came out of Egypt. God led them out of the Egypt, been in slavery there and out there in the wilderness. And God tested them. You know, they didn't have lots of food every time you turn around. They had to trust God. They began to complain. They're grumbling. was a sign of a lack of patience, a lack of trusting in the Lord. And then they come to the place where they're about to go into the promised land. You remember that? They wasn't going to the promised land. They send some spies out there and they come back. Hey, wait a minute. We can't go there. There's giants in that land. We can't do that. And so they all got discouraged and began to grumble, complain. And Numbers chapter 14 verse 2 says, all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, would that we had died in the land of Egypt or would that we had died in this wilderness? Well, guess who was listening to that? Got it right. God was listening to that. Here's what God said in Numbers 14 verse 26. The Lord spoke to Moses and said to Aaron, He said this, How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I've heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, as I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing, I will do to you. Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness and all of your number listed in the census from 20 years old and up who have grumbled against me. That's what God said to Moses. I've heard them talking. They said, would to God that we had died in Egypt. Would to God that we died in the wilderness. God said, listen, they're going to get what they said. I heard what they said. You know, it's only natural when difficult circumstances come up that we show concern. And it's actually, it's a part of human nature to show concern, even grief over troubling matters. But what do you do with that? When there's not food, like you think there ought to be food and water. They didn't have food and they didn't have water. Well, you got to trust the Lord. A constant grumbling against God is what's happening right here. And their complaint was not against Moses, it was against God. And when you think about it, me included, when we get in this thing of griping and complaining to somebody else, Our gripe is to God. What we're saying to somebody when we're complaining and constantly bickering, griping, complaining, we're saying this. If I was God, you'd be getting a better deal than what you're getting. That's what Adam did. Remember Adam? Adam sinned. He took the forbidden fruit. God came in the garden and said, Adam, where are you, Adam? Have you taken that forbidden fruit? And here's what Adam said. You know that woman you gave me, God? It was that woman. He blamed God because God's the one who gave him the woman. Complaining, a complaining spirit is saying, listen, if I was God, you'd be getting a better deal than what you're getting right now. It's an assault on the character and the purposes of God. Very serious thing here. Philippians 2.14 says this, do all things without grumbling or disputing. that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. So the evidence that reveals a lack of patience is constant grumbling. Well, there's an end to that. There's a result of this. That's the next thing we'll look at now. The end. To be more patient, we need to know this. There is the end results of a life of impatience. Go back to verse nine. Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. So if our impatience continues to the point of complaining, constantly complaining and griping, There is an end to this. And the end is not pretty at all. The judge is at the door. The judge is at the door. Now you go back to the people of Israel. They grumbled against Moses. They grumbled against Moses constantly. They grumbled because of a lack of water. They grumbled because of a lack of food. They grumbled because God sent manna. They got tired of the manna. They grumbled and griped to complain. What they were saying to Moses is our circumstances is bad. It's not good. Would that we had died in the land of Egypt. That's what they said. Would that we had died in this wilderness. And God stood at the door and heard what they said. And what did God say to Moses? Numbers 14 verse 28. God says, as I live, declares the Lord, what you've said in my hearing, I will do it to you. Your dead bodies will fall in the wilderness. All of your number in the senses from 20 years old and up who have grumbled against me. The end was death. Thank God we live on this side of the cross. I'm glad God doesn't strike us down physically and kill us all. Every time we grumble, we'd be in bad shape. But death can come in different ways. There is the death of what God wants to accomplish in your life. We can complain to the point that God can no longer use us. There are some blessings that we miss out. There's the death of blessings. There's the death of usefulness in God's service. There is death of a fellowship. that once was a loving fellowship in a church, complaining, griping can kill a loving relationship and fellowship. It can happen with the fellowship with friends. It can happen with family members. The judge is at the door. God hears what we say. He is the judge. And he can step in any moment. and take care of business. My sister's here today. I don't know if she remembers this, but it's amazing how you remember things. She wasn't involved in this. She probably stood back laughing about it. My dad sent my brother and I, my oldest brother, out to dig potatoes, Irish potatoes. Dad believed in 10 rows of them. He loved Irish potatoes. Well, come time, get a bucket, get a shovel, go out there and get your head a pick, you got to dig the ground up, scratch the dirt and fill up your bucket up with Irish potatoes. Well, my brother and I, I don't know how old we were, we were little guys, but anyway, we were arguing, we were complaining, we were bickering about who was going to do the picking, who was going to hold the bucket, who's going to do the scratching in the dirt, you know, who's going to do what? All of a sudden, out of nowhere came the judge. He took care of business. It seemed like we dug up an acre. Now, let's look in verse 10. The example that we can learn that will demonstrate the life of patience. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. If you ever think you've got it rough, think about some of these prophets in the Old Testament. They spoke in the name of the Lord. That was their business. That was their task. God had a message for His people and they were to deliver that message. Many times it was unpopular and the prophets, they were just messengers A lot of times they got stoned to death because people didn't like the message. Jeremiah was one of the prophets. He was a faithful prophet. He was called the weeping prophet. He faced relentless persecution. He was undaunting in his faithfulness and he was persecuted by his own people and by the religious leaders. They incarcerated him. They put him in stocks. They throw them in a cistern full of mud. He suffered greatly. At one point, Jeremiah decided, I'm not going to say another word. I'm going to stop all of my prophetic messages. But then something happened inside of Jeremiah. And it says this in Jeremiah chapter 20 and verse nine, he's speaking. He says, if I say, I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name. There is in my heart, as it were, a burning fire shut up in my bones. And I'm weary with holding it in, and I cannot. You see, if you're a true prophet of the Lord, you've got to speak the Word of God. You can't hold it in. There are many prophets that God sent to Israel. I think of Ezekiel. Ezekiel suffered. His wife died. I think of Daniel, the prophet. He was thrown in a den of lions. And then one of the last prophets we know is John the Baptist. He was a prophet. John the Baptist. He was put in prison. He was beheaded. Jesus at one time gave a strong denunciation to the Pharisees and the scribes and Pharisees because they were just like their forefathers who killed the prophets. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 23 in verse 29, He said this, He says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets. You decorate the monuments of the righteous. You said, if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would end up taking part with them and shedding the blood of the prophets. He goes on, he says, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones, those are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood on her wings and you were not willing? Well. Those who are suffering for the cause of Christ, those who are persecuted, we can look at the example of the prophets They suffered tremendously for taking a stand for God and speaking God's message. Now, what was their outcome? What was their outcome? What happened? Well, look at verse 11. Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. God bless them. God bless them. And he goes on, he says in verse 11, you have heard of the steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the Lord. God blessed these prophets. He blessed Job. And James, as he writes this letter, he just briefly mentions Job. He doesn't go in great detail. He says, you've heard of the story of Job. There's no need of me going into detail. They were very acquainted with the story of Job. Well, maybe we're not. But you go in the Old Testament, you read about it. God allowed Satan took the hedge, and allowed Satan to come in and touch his family, and touch his possessions, and touch his own body. Enemies came and killed 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and struck down all of Job's servants, and enemies came and killed 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels, and a strong wind came and blew over the house of the firstborn, and inside were the seven sons and the three daughters of Job. and sickness touched his body, and even his wife. I mean, the devastation, the suffering was tremendous that even Job's wife said, why don't you just curse God and die? Thanks. You want your wife to stand with you, right? How discouraging. We've seen the outcome. We've seen the blessing of the Lord, because after it was all said and done, Job stood faithful. He was steadfast. He persevered. The patience of Job proved to be great because God blessed him in the end. He was blessed twice as much in the end. You read the last part of the book of Job. So the purpose of the Lord, it says here, was to bless him. And Job is an excellent example of suffering and of patience. And that leads us to the last point here. Because of the example of Job and the example of these prophets, we can have encouragement today. The encouragement. We can receive encouragement to pursue a life of patience. You wake up some morning and say, I don't want to get out of bed. You look up and it's dreary. The sun refuses to shine, you know, and so it's dreary. It might be rainy. Ah, I've got to stay in bed, you know. But you know what, a child of God, we've got to keep on going. We've got to keep on trucking. We've got to keep on pressing on. We've got to keep on. We've got to be encouraged no matter what faces us. So let's look at the encouragement that we have here. Look at what we see here now. Verse 11, you've heard of the steadfastness of Job, the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. We are encouraged because we read about Job. We read about all these prophets and we get it from the word of God. We are encouraged by the scriptures. Don't take a vacation from the Bible. Keep the Bible close at hand. Have a regular diet along with your hamburgers and french fries. Make sure you've got plenty of scriptures to read. We need encouragement and we get encouragement from the word of God. It's important to hear and to read of what God is doing and how he worked in the lives of his people in the word of God. Romans chapter 15 verse 4 says this. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope." The Word of God is encouraging. We have a record in God's Word of God's faithfulness. We have in the Word of God an unbroken pattern. of God's faithfulness. Jeremiah speaks in Lamentations chapter three, verse 21. But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. And Paul wrote about that in Romans chapter 12 verse 12. He says, Rejoice in hope, be patient, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. So not only are we encouraged by the scriptures, also we are encouraged by the Lord's purpose. In verse 11, the last part of verse 11 says, You've seen the purpose of the Lord. How the Lord is compassionate and merciful. You've seen the purpose of the Lord. God's just not willy nilly. I mean, God's a God of purpose. Jeremiah 29 and 11 says, For I know the plans, God says. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil to give you what? A future and a hope. Ain't it wonderful that you know in Jesus Christ you have a future? and a hope. It's not a dead-end street. It's a future and a hope. In the Lord Jesus, we have that. The Lord has plans for us. I tell you, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, and it may be yours too, is John 14, verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled. You know that one? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If we're not sober, I've told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. In Jesus, we've got a future. You know, there are people out there giving all kinds of forecast. I'm not talking about snow either. Economical forecast. Oh, the economy might crash. Well, I hope not. But I got a future. I got a future. Romans 8.28 says, We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. The Lord's purpose is to bring us home. The Lord's purpose is to exalt His name. The Lord will fulfill His purpose. Now, the last thing I want you to think about is this. What do you do when you fail to be patient? Because we've been there. What do you do when you fail to persevere? What do you do when you find yourself being self-absorbed and you're just thinking of yourself and you're becoming a constant complainer And your love for the Lord seems cold. I'm glad we got the last part of verse 11. The Lord is compassionate and merciful. The Lord is compassionate and merciful. We are encouraged because the Lord is full of compassion and our God is merciful to us. He's forgiving. He is forgiving. And so when you realize you've blown it, when you realize that you've messed up, you may have run out of patience, but the Lord hasn't run out of patience. He's long-suffering. He's there, open arms, and we can come to Him. Oh, Lord, I blew it. The Lord say, yeah, you did, but come on back. And we cry unto the Lord because He's loving, He's merciful, He's compassionate, and He hears our cries of repentance. And with open arms, He receives us because our God will abundantly forgive, our God will abundantly pardon. That's the kind of God we serve. It's not like strike one, strike two, strike three, you're out. You can strike out three million times, come on back. How can God keep bringing us back? That's the kind of God we have. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5 and 7, casting all your care upon Him. Why is that? He cares for you. He cares for you. That's the Lord's word to His people. So we're to be patient. We're to be faithful to the task that He has called us to. We're to live for Him. We're to be a witness for Him. We are to pray and seek to bring others to come to know Him. We just got to keep on keeping on and be patient. And when we blow it, come back to the Lord. He is full of compassion and mercy. I'm glad of that. Father, we thank you that you are a loving, merciful Savior. And Lord, we do fail you, but we thank you that you are so loving, and when we come in repentance, you receive us, you do care for us. And Lord, I just pray as your children, Lord, that we will be ever determined to persevere, to be steadfast, to keep on, lifting up the name of Jesus before our family, for our grandchildren, before our neighbors, before those we are around. We just pray, Lord, that you'll help us to be a good testimony for the Lord Jesus. And will or we pray for that one who's yet to call upon you as Lord and Savior, help them to do that even today. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We pray you will be done. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. ♪ We give this time one more earthly prayer ♪ ♪ How proud we all feel, how proud we all sing ♪ ♪ How proud we all still may be ♪ ♪ Jesus, dear, how great in awe ♪ Oh, wow.