The Power of Patience, James 5:7-11

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

OUTLINE:

1.     ENDURANCE

2.     ESTABLISH

3.     EDIFY

What do you like better:

Red lights or green?

Stop signs, or yield?

How may I help you or, please hold?

We’ll have your results today or, we should know in three weeks?

Come on in, or please wait?

We don’t like to wait.

I disliked waiting so much when I was a teenager, I dug up a stop sign on the road I traveled into town every morning. My road was straight as an arrow at the junction where another road joined at a right angle. For some dumb reason my road had a stop sign and the road coming in from the side had the right of way. That was wrong. It made no sense. Why should I have to stop for a road interrupting my straight smooth sailing?

So, one night me and Sean Barnes, snuck out there and dug up the sign, post and all. It took some time because every time a car would come, we’d dive in the ditch and hide.

Finally, we replanted the sign on the side road—where it belonged.

I just knew once they saw how smart we were by moving the sign, they’d realize how dumb they were and just leave it there.

No more waiting!

It was awesome.

For a day.

The next day, they replaced the sign back on my road, but this time bigger and beefier with two posts instead of just one.

We were afraid they booby trapped them, so that sign is probably still there to this day, making innocent straight shooters waste their time stopping for some dumb sidewinder road.

We think waiting is a waste of time.

But the Bible says otherwise.

Good things come to those who wait. 

Isaiah 40:31
 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Heb. 6:12
 Through faith and patience we inherit the promise

Matt. 24:13
 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

James 1:2-4
 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect (teleios: full strength, clarity, maturity) work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Patience is a powerful and important characteristic of a mature Christian.

Impatience shows immaturity in Christianity.

If you lay on the horn the moment somebody sits too long when the light turns green, or they pull in front of you in traffic... you’re showing your diaper.

Notice how many times our text points to patience:

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

 

1.     ENDURANCE

See how the farmer waits.

Waiting like a farmer is work.

They don’t just plant in spring, harvest in fall, and sit around for the rest of the year.

Their waiting is preparing and repairing, equipment and fences and barns, fertilizing and watering and weeding and feeding and sometimes without eating or sleeping.

Farmers actively wait, like Jesus busy about His Father’s business, preparing for Harvest.

Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. Heb. 12:2.

Godly patience is passing time productively, not passively.

Galatians 6:9, Weary not in well doing for in due season you shall reap if you faint not.

It’s not sitting idle watching the clock, waiting for this or that.

It’s living intentionally with Eternity in view.

Walking not by earth’s chronos clock but by Heaven’s Kairos time. Siezing the moment, ready in season and out, knowing our days are but a vapor, the harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few.

We have no time to waste on petty, earthly, foolish, debates and wranglings. Titus 3:9.

Waiting like a farmer, is working for God’s Great Harvest.  

 It’s easier said than done.

The world is drifting downstream toward the lake of fire. Waiting like a farmer is walking upstream against the current of the world.

So, it takes more than physical endurance, a good work ethic, or sheer will power.

It takes inner strength of the heart.  

2.     ESTABLISH

Establish your heart.

Establish: stérizó: Root of the word: steroid. To establish, strengthen, fix, set firmly.

Not just waiting like a farmer on the outside but also on the inside, in the heart.

This is where Power comes from.

Establish your heart. Strengthen your heart.

How?

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Psalm 16:11
 You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Nehemiah 8:10
The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.

So, if we faithfully follow the Lord, obey His Word, do what we know He wants us to do, He will direct our path, give us His strength, and joy, and the desires of our heart will be established.

Yeah, but Doug, you don’t understand. I have trust issues. I have a hard time with commitment. I have desires at times that are anything but Godly.  

We all battle the flesh. But don’t put your stop sign on the wrong street. Don’t admit defeat.

Remember, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Saying, I have trust issues. I can’t commit. I have ungodly desires. I. I. I... is claiming that your flesh is in control, that your flesh is who you are.

That is a demonic deception, from gender dysphoria all the way to, “it’s just my Irish temper, I can’t help it, it’s who I am.”

HOGWASH. NO! IT’S NOT WHO YOU ARE!

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14.

You are created in the image of God. Genesis 1:27.

If you are a Christian, you are a new creature. Born again. A child of God. A child of The King! 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 3:3, John 1:12.

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light. 1 Peter 2:9.

You are a spirit, you have a soul, you live in a body.

Your spirit does not like the things of the flesh but wars against them. Galatians 5:17, Matthew 26:41.

Therefore, do not say, “I have trust issues. I can’t commit. My desires are ungodly.”

Instead make your words agree with The Word:

I Trust in the Lord with all MY heart, I lean not on MY own understanding; in all MY ways I acknowledge Him, and He directs MY paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11.

The joy of the Lord is MY strength. Nehemiah 8:10.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13.

I Delight myself in the Lord and He gives me the desires of my heart. Psalm 37:4.

I commit my works to the Lord, and my thoughts are established. Proverbs 16:3.

I’m glad when they say, let's go to the House of the Lord. Psalm 122:1.

I rejoice in the Lord always. Philippians 4:4-8.

My will is to do the will of my Father.  John 6:38-39.

I am blessed of the Lord, I love His Word, and nothing by any means offends me.  (Psalm 119:165.

My flesh may like to drink and smoke and cuss and chew and go with those who do...

But I don't.

From the abundance of the Godly heart will flow, not grumbling and complaining, but Life-giving edification.

3.     EDIFY

Do not grumble lest you be condemned.

Ephesians 4:29-32
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Do you want to hear a scary Scripture that ought to cure anybody of grumbling, gossip, idle, evil words?

Matthew 12:33-37
 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

God really dislikes grumbling and complaining.

Numbers 11:1-3. After God delivered Israel from Egypt, on their way to the Promise Land, they grumbled and complained. God sent fire that consumed many of them.

Numbers 16:31-35, When 250 leaders complained against Moses and Aaron’s Authority, the earth opened and swallowed them.  

Numbers 16:41-50. Then, the next day they complained about the leaders being killed, so God sent a plague killed 14,700 grumblers.

Numbers 21:5-6. They grumbled again against God and Moses, because they were tired and hungry and thirsty and sick of the same old food. So, God sent venomous snakes and many more died.

Numbers 14:26-38. After 10 of the 12 spies gave a fearful report regarding their chances of taking Promise Land, the multitude grumbled against Moses. So, God decreed that every Israelite 20 years and older would die in the wilderness. All but Joshua and Celeb, the two spies who gave a faithful report.   

The 10 fear mongering spies dropped dead on the spot.

Thus, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, on a journey that should’ve been less than two weeks.

Take your time. Do it right. Don’t complain. You’ll avoid undue delays and have a much more harmonious journey.

Now, in closing, let’s look one more time at our text and notice the overriding purpose and theme:

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

 

Endure until the coming of the Lord.

Establish your heart, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Edify for the Judge is standing at the door.

How do we endure, with a strong heart, without grumbling, in this upstream battle?

Look to Jesus who is coming soon, yes, standing at the door.   

Hebrews 10:36-37
For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, help us to follow Your example, not complaining, edifying, ever planting toward Your Harvest. Waiting, like a farmer. Making heaven crowded.

Thank You Lord.

We love You, forever.

Amen.

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