{"id":18708,"date":"2021-05-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/james-027-perhaps-today\/"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:12:30","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:12:30","slug":"james-027-perhaps-today","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/james-027-perhaps-today\/","title":{"rendered":"James 027 &#8211; Perhaps Today!"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[104],"series_event":[514],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18708","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-james","series_event-james","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"James 027 - Perhaps Today!","sermon_date":"20210512","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2021","sermon_notes":19892,"sermon_slides":19893,"sermon_mp3":"","sermon_id":"512212036375775","series_or_event":514,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":104,"chapter_and_verse":"5:7-12","sermon_transcript":"James 027\n\nPerhaps Today!\n\nJames 5:7-12\n\nDr. Andy Woods\n\nJames 5:7, time permitting, we will look at 5:7-12.\u00a0 James, as you know by now, is a book about practical righteousness.\u00a0 Their positional righteousness is assumed, and the book is about how to allow your practice to catch up with your position.\u00a0 The first part of the book is about walking by faith, which involves developing God's mindset on trials, obeying His Word, not showing favoritism, allowing our faith to manifest itself in good works and taming the tongue.\u00a0 I said earlier that we hope to finish James in three weeks, but the fact of the matter is that you never finish James because these are all life lessons that take our whole Christian lives to learn and relearn.\u00a0 Amen?\u00a0 So, we may get to the end of the book of James and then when we reconvene in the fall, maybe we will do it backwards?\n\nThe second part of the book is essentially about walking by wisdom, as James defines it is knowledge applied.\u00a0 After defining wisdom, he applies it to our spiritual lives, commercial lives in terms of not planning as though God doesn\u2019t exist, and as we saw last week, he applies it to use of wealth.\u00a0\u00a0 This is where James condemns not the wealthy but the wealthy oppressors \u2014 people who got wealthy through oppressing others.\u00a0 It is there that James issues a strong condemnation of these wealthy oppressors; his audience is believing, but he is using an example from the unbelieving world, and there he says that when the Lord comes back, your flesh will be consumed by fire; you will weep and wail for the miseries coming upon you.\u00a0 It is a lot of judgment talk related to the Second Coming.\n\nAll these paragraphs that he writes are interlinked with one another.\u00a0 I think the reality of the coming judgment upon the wealthy oppressors in 5:1-6, now brings to James\u2019 mind the imminent return of Jesus.\u00a0 We have been talking about coming judgment in prior paragraphs, and this, I believe, stimulates his thoughts towards the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ for us, His church, and how we are supposed to live in light of it.\u00a0 James 5:7-12 is about wisdom applied to waiting for the Lord\u2019s return.\n\nHere is our outline for the coming verses 5:7-12.\u00a0 We have the:\n<ol>\n \t<li>The Example of the Farmer \u2014 5:7<\/li>\n \t<li>The Impact of Imminency \u2014 5:8-9<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Two Old Testament Examples of Patience \u2014 5:10-12<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nNotice what James says here about the farmer, and notice also, 5:7, \u201cTherefore be patient [I hate that word, don't you? Lord, give me patience and give it to me right now] \u2026 brethren, until the coming of the Lord.\u00a0 [Notice \u2018brethren,\u2019 and if you look at verses 5:9,10,12 you will notice the word \u2018brethren.\u2019\u00a0 We have argued that \u2018brethren\u2019 is a reference to only the Christian.\u00a0 You can jot down Matt 12:46-50 where Jesus says, \u2018Who are my brothers, my sister, my mother, etc, are they not the ones that do the will of my Father who is in heaven?\u2019\u00a0 You will notice also in 5:7 that James mentions the coming of the Lord.\u00a0 Notice how as he mentions the coming of the Lord, that he doesn\u2019t first say that the Antichrist will come because as we have been teaching in our Sunday school hour in the rapture study, the opposing rapture views that are floating around, put some sort of prophetic event that must happen first.\u00a0 In fact, one person wrote a book called, <u>First the Antichrist<\/u>, and we at Sugarland Bible Church, reject that; we believe that there is nothing that must happen before Jesus can come at the rapture.\u00a0 We believe that the correct view is the Pretribulation Rapture; the other views teach some prophetic sequence first.\u00a0 You can listen to or look at our rapture studies to get up to speed on that.\u00a0 Here is a classic verse on imminency, which basically means the any moment appearance of Jesus.\u00a0 There is absolutely nothing that must happen before the rapture can occur.\u00a0 It can occur before I get my next sentence out.\u00a0 That is what is meant by imminency.\u00a0 All the other views are always waiting for something; some kind of sequence first, but we don't find those to be biblical beliefs.\n\nNotice with all of these second advent teachings that the Lord says, \u201c\u2026<strong><u>I will come again and receive you to Myself<\/u><\/strong>\u2026\u201d Notice in John 14:3, again, when the Lord says, \u201cIf I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Notice that the Lord doesn\u2019t set up any prophetic sign that must first happen before the rapture can occur.\u00a0 Notice the same thing in 1 Thess 5:15 where Paul says, \u201cFor this we say to you by the world of the Lord, that <strong><u>we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord<\/u><\/strong>, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.\u201d\u00a0 Notice there that there are no prophetic sign(s) that must happen before the rapture.\u00a0 There is a harmony in all of these verses.\n\nIn 1 Cor 15:51, \u201cBehold, I tell you a mystery; <strong><u>we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.<\/u><\/strong>\u201d Never does he say that the Antichrist comes first.\u00a0 The focus of the New Testament is that Jesus is coming back next.\u00a0 These are what we call imminency passages.\u00a0 Titus 2:13, \u201cLooking for <strong><u>the blessed hope<\/u><\/strong> and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.\u201d\n\nIn 1 John 3:2-3, \u201cBeloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.\u00a0 We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.\u00a0 And <strong><u>everyone who has this hope\u2026 [What hope?\u00a0 Seeing Jesus] \u2026<em>set<\/em> on Him purifies himself<\/u><\/strong>, just as He is pure.\u201d\u00a0 Again, you don't see any reference to an Antichrist coming first.\n\nThe question is that this teaching on imminency, (what we are getting into here tonight), is if waiting for the Lord's return in wisdom, imminency, that is, if the idea that Jesus can come back in the next split second is actually practical?\u00a0\u00a0 Does this matter to daily life?\u00a0 Here we will see in James 5:7-12 that it does matter to daily life.\n\nI would like to use this quote from my professor, J Dwight Pentecost who communicated this in one of his books, \u201cA short time ago, I took occasion to go through the New Testament to mark each reference to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and to observe the use made of that teaching about His coming.\u00a0 <strong><u>I was struck anew with the fact that almost without exception, when the coming of Christ is mentioned in the New Testament, it is followed by an exhortation to godliness and holy living.<\/u><\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 So, whenever there is a presentation of the any moment return of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, it is always linked to daily life.\u00a0 Your prayer life, patience under trial; here in this passage, it is linked to patience and strength, so don't think that the imminent return of Jesus is merely pie in the sky that has no impact on daily life.\n\nBack to 1 John 3:3, \u201c\u2026 <strong><u>everyone who has this hope [the hope of when He appears] \u2026<em>set<\/em> on Him purifies himself<\/u><\/strong>, just as He is pure.\u201d There is nothing that will improve your daily practical sanctification than thinking that every day could be the day of the rapture.\u00a0 If you live every day that way, it will change your choices, attitudes, conversations, everything.\u00a0 It is a lot like when your boss says, \u2018Ok, I will be gone for two months and check up on you.\u2019\u00a0 We know how that would end.\u00a0 You won't be only a little sluggish at the workplace.\u00a0 But if your boss says, \u2018I'm leaving and I could check in at any moment,\u2019 that would change your work habit constantly.\u00a0 That is what the imminent appearance of Jesus does for us all.\n\nI like to use this passage in Matt 24:46-50, and I agree that it does relate to Israel in the Tribulation, but you can still make an application to us via imminency and a change of behavior.\u00a0 Jesus says in Matt 24:46-50, \u201cBlessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.\u00a0 Truly I say to you that he will put him charge of all his possessions.\u00a0 But if that evil slave says in his heart, \u2018<strong><u>My master is not coming for a long time,\u2019 \u2026[the evil slave doesn\u2019t believe in imminency, in other words] \u2026 \u201cand he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk;<\/u><\/strong> then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know.\u201d\u00a0 So, the slave that does not have eschatology (the study of the end) that says that every day could be the day and has a prophetic scenario that must elapse first, is an evil slave and his life moves into fleshly activity since he doesn\u2019t have an incentive for daily holy living.\n\nThis is sort of a crash course on imminency; we go into much more detail on it in our Rapture Series.\u00a0 But I only bring this up because this is the heart and soul of James 5:7-12:\u00a0 that the Lord is returning; He can come back at any second in the rapture, and believing that as we should, then it changes the way we live.\u00a0 We can prove that we believe it, not because we checked off a box on a doctrinal checklist, but because if we truly believe it, it will change the way we live.\u00a0 That is the natural impetus of the any moment appearance of Christ.\u00a0 That is what you see in 5:7.\n\nJames 5:7, \u201cTherefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [The coming of the Lord is linked to patience; \u2018Gee, I don't have any patience with people, in traffic, with my family or friends.\u2019\u00a0 Here is the remedy:\u00a0 think on the reality that today could be the day of the rapture, and you will start having patience with all kinds of people.\u00a0 Even with those whom you don't really like, you will find you are being patient because you don't want the Lord to come back and find you in an impatient, carnal state].\u00a0\u00a0 Verse 7, \u201cTherefore be patient, brethren, [\u2018brethren\u2019 being an application only to the Christian.\u00a0 An unbeliever doesn\u2019t know of anything about the imminent return of Christ]\u2026until the coming of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Examples of patience?\u00a0 \u2026 \u201cThe farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.\u201d\n\nSpeaking on the subject of patience, James intends to go on for an entire paragraph about it because he must think that we need this lesson on it.\u00a0 Amen?\u00a0 He says that if you want an example of patience to look at the farmer.\u00a0 We are living in non-agrarian society; I was raised as a city boy basically, so I don't know enough about farming, but those who are farmers understand it very well and James\u2019 audience was of an agrarian society who understood this background concerning farming.\u00a0 One of the things about it is that it requires patience because putting a seed into the soil, doesn\u2019t yield a tree within the next 15 seconds, right?\u00a0 It isn\u2019t like how the microwave oven works; putting my cup in, hitting the button, and I am happy.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t work that way in farming because it is a process that takes time, and if you aren\u2019t someone who handles long segments of time well because you lack patience, then you will be a terrible farmer.\u00a0 This is why James uses farmers as an example.\u00a0 Farming also takes faith that the process is working properly since there is no instantaneous result.\n\nJames is writing to the agrarian culture who understood farming, and he says to look at the farmer for an example of patience.\u00a0 He also mentions in James 5:7 the early rains and the latter rains.\u00a0 To reiterate, James is writing to a Jewish audience, the twelve tribes of Israel, who understood the land of Israel very well, which is why in some of the unique features of his book, James provides a lot of illustrations from nature and daily living.\u00a0 Those of us who are rather removed from farming need to study these things so that we can understand them, but James' audience would immediately have picked up on the meaning of the early and latter rains; it is very common in farming in the land of Israel going back to the first century.\n\nWaiting in wisdom for the Lord\u2019s return, is the example of the farmer.\u00a0 Then in 5:8-9, James moves to the impact of imminency.\u00a0 Imminency is the belief that Jesus Christ can come back in the next split second which should have an impact [if we believe it] on our <strong><u>strength<\/u><\/strong> (5:8).\u00a0 It should also have an impact on (and this one hurts), <strong><u>complaining<\/u><\/strong> (5:9).\u00a0 Don't show the Lord that you believe in the imminency of His return because your prophecy chart is filled out correctly.\u00a0 Show the Lord that you believe in the imminency of His return because you are no longer a complainer, and here, James specifically talks about complaining against your fellow brethren in Christ.\u00a0 In 5:8, related to <strong><u>strength<\/u><\/strong>, (do you feel tired, defeated, depleted, exhausted?).\u00a0 There is a remedy for this, and it is thinking about the soon return of Jesus.\u00a0 In 5:8, James says, <strong>\u201c<u>You too<\/u><\/strong> be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near [<em>engiz\u014d]\u2026<\/em>\u201d Notice in 5:8 when he says, <strong>\u201c<u>You too<\/u><\/strong>\u2026,\u201d he is drawing from the example of the farmer in 5:7, \u2018Look how patient the farmer is; how he walks by faith; he doesn\u2019t see an instantaneous result, so they are people of patience and faith.\u2019\u00a0 James is imploring them to be like the farmers.\n\n<strong>\u201c<u>You too<\/u><\/strong> be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near [<em>engiz\u014d]\u2026<\/em>\u201d Notice the reference here to the impact of imminency, which will be described in the second part of 5:8 on patience and strength.\u00a0 Again, notice that imminency is linked to patience and strength; not a pie in the sky doctrine, and right there in 5:8 at the end of the verse, is one of the most powerful statements on imminency found anywhere in the Bible.\u00a0 It says, <strong>\u201c<u>You too<\/u><\/strong> be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord <strong><u>is near<\/u><\/strong> [<em>engiz\u014d]\u2026<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 The verb used here is <em>engiz\u014d <\/em>which basically means, \u2018at hand; at any moment.\u2019\u00a0 Later on, he will say that the Judge is right at the door to reinforce the point in 5:9.\u00a0 The best illustration I can think of is those plastic balls that we used to play with as kids that had Velcro and when throwing it onto the ceiling, it stuck.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t let you know when it is going to fall; only when it begins to wear off.\u00a0 As you are looking to anticipate its fall, you know that it can fall at any moment, but not exactly when.\u00a0 This is like the doctrine of imminency; what the Holy Spirit wants every generation of Christians to believe for the past 2,000 years.\u00a0 If you think that any moment that ball can fall off the ceiling, by way of analogy, that Jesus can come back in the rapture, it revolutionizes your life.\n\nIt is the same parsing, <em>engiz\u014d, <\/em>that we studied in our Kingdom Series, where the offer of the Kingdom as preached by John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles and the seventy.\u00a0 Remember the expression, \u2018Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,\u2019\u2014 <em>engiz\u014d, <\/em>the same verb and the same parsing.\u00a0 It was preached by John the Baptist in Matt 3:2; by Christ in Matt 4:17; by the twelve in Matt 10, and by the seventy in Luke 10:9.\n\nAt least in the Matthew passages, it is always <em>engiz\u014d, \u2018<\/em>at hand,\u2019 and when we were in that series, I tried to make the point that when the Bible says to first century Israel that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it wasn\u2019t saying that the kingdom is here; that\u2019s a misunderstanding of all these texts.\u00a0 It is saying that the kingdom of heaven is not here, but near.\u00a0 It was within their grasp.\u00a0 All they had to do as first century Israel was to take Christ and enthrone Him as King on <strong><em>His<\/em><\/strong> terms, and the Millennial Kingdom would have begun!\u00a0 We know how that story ended that this offer was rejected, and consequently, the kingdom is not cancelled but postponed.\n\nWe are not in the kingdom age now because that offer is off the table, but it was very much on the table when Jesus was on the earth.\u00a0 They could have fulfilled Deut. 17:15, which says \u2018to enthrone the King of God\u2019s choosing.\u2019\u00a0 Had they done that, the Millennial Kingdom would have started.\n\nMatt 11:14, Jesus said about John the Baptist, \u201cAnd if you [Israel] are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.\u201d\u00a0 There is a prophecy that Elijah will come back in Malachi 4:5-6.\u00a0 In that passage there is a prophecy that Elijah will come back before the great and terrible Day of the Lord.\n\nAs the offer of the kingdom is on the table, Jesus said to the Jews, \u2018If you are willing to accept it, John the Baptist will fulfill that prophecy.\u2019\u00a0 It shows you the actual nearness of the kingdom, and it is saying <em>engiz\u014d <\/em>in these passages, and that\u2019s exactly what is being described here in James 5:8 when it says that the coming of the Lord is near; at hand.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t saying that it is here but that it is near. \u00a0The Second Coming has not happened yet, but the rapture could occur at any second; that is how the Lord has set things up.\u00a0 Again, that isn\u2019t pie in the sky doctrine, but it is designed to change our lives. It changes our <strong><u>strength<\/u><\/strong> (5:8).\u00a0 We have strength for the next day when we live as if today could be the day.\n\nIt has another effect on us as it starts to get rid of the amount of complaining that we do.\u00a0 I know that you don't complain about anything, but I can be a complainer; ask my wife; I am a glass-half-empty person; it is never half-full, but always half-empty.\u00a0 I could complain all day long, from sunrise to sunset, and I'm quite good at it.\u00a0 Complaining is one of the few things that I have excelled at.\u00a0 So, 5:9 is for me because it says, \u201cDo not complain, [ouch!], brethren [he is speaking to believers], against one another,\u201d \u2026[He doesn\u2019t say not to complain about the stock market or who is in the White House, but <strong><em>not<\/em><\/strong> to complain against fellow Christians, specifically.\u00a0 We are good at critiquing each other, aren\u2019t we?\u00a0 I can critique each one of you up one side and down the other, and you could do the same thing to me.\u00a0 James says <strong><em>not<\/em><\/strong> to do that].\u00a0 \u201cDo not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.\u201d\u00a0 Notice the imminency here.\n\nLooking at James 5:9, \u201cDo not complain.\u201d If you want to know what God thinks about complaining, read the book of <strong><u>Numbers<\/u><\/strong> where there is some harsh complaining occurring and how God showed His total displeasure with it in Numbers 14:2, \u201cAll the sons of Israel grumbled [complained] against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, \u201cWould that we had died in the land of Egypt!\u201d \u2026 [When you brought us out here to die out here in the wilderness.\u00a0 Who do they take it out on? \u2014 God's leaders, and the people grumbled and complained].\n\nNotice it says here in 5:9, \u2018brethren,\u2019 so James is speaking to Christians, and he says, \u201c<strong><u>Do not complain<\/u><\/strong> against one another,\u201d \u2026\u00a0 We can complain vertically and horizontally.\u00a0 Often, we complain against God.\u00a0 Numbers 1:11, \u201cNow the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.\u201d This is scary, but it is because they complained in the hearing of the Lord.\n\nNumbers 16:41, \u201cBut on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron\u2026\u201d [Notice they're complaining vertically against God and horizontally against fellow members of the community, in this case against God's leaders].\u00a0 So, to complain against God's leaders unjustifiably, and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that leaders are somehow above criticism; that isn\u2019t true as we are all held to a biblical standard, but complaining against God's installed leadership unjustifiably says that we are actually complaining against Him as He is the One who installed the leader, in this case Moses and Aaron.\n\nJames goes on in 5:9, \u201cDo not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be <strong><u>judged<\/u><\/strong>;\u201d \u2026 [\u2018You mean to tell me that God judges complaining?\u00a0 Again, there is a good book on this, the book of <strong><u>Numbers<\/u><\/strong>, and it deals with this entire subject, the children of Israel, as they came out of Egypt and were making their way to the Promised Land.\u00a0 So, you can take the children of Israel out of Egypt, but it is harder to take Egypt out of the children of Israel.\u00a0 They complained because they didn\u2019t know where they were going as they were learning to walk by faith.\u00a0 Then they said that they preferred to be slaves again in Egypt because they at least got \u2018three hots and a cot\u2019 back in Egypt.\u00a0 \u2018Yes, I was a slave and whipped all the time, but at least life was stable, now I have to trust God, I don't like this, it is hot out here!\u2019\u00a0 My friend, Randy Price, says that there is a reason that it was hot out there, and it is because it is hot out there in the Sinai Peninsula.\u00a0 Spend some time out there and see why the people were rising up all the time against Moses and Aaron.\n\nNumbers 16:11 when the children of Israel were making their way from Mt Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, there were giants in the land, and then God began to work with the younger people.\u00a0 They were making their way through the Trans Jordan in the east, and that\u2019s where you have Korah\u2019s uprising.\u00a0 Num 16:11, \u201cTherefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?\u201d\u00a0 In essence, they were grumbling against God\u2019s leaders.\u00a0 Remember what happened to that group?\u00a0 It is known as Korah\u2019s rebellion in Num 16:31-35, \u201cAs he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions [Korah was leading the rebellion].\u00a0 So, they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol [death]; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.\u00a0 All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, \u201cThe earth may swallow us up!\u201d\u00a0 Fire also came forth from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.\u201d\u00a0 So, this situation happened in the Trans Jordan essentially because of their complaining.\n\nJames, of course, the first New Testament book, is not quoting Paul; he is reaching back into the Old Testament expecting us to understand what God says about complaining.\u00a0 (Sound interrupted here).\u00a0 The situation here was that people complained and came against God\u2019s established leaders, and He just opened the ground and the complainers disappeared.\u00a0 This is what happened.\u00a0 What if God did that kind of thing today? \u00a0Talk about church attendance decreasing; how many churches would be left with that going on?\n\nThat becomes the background or the basis for not complaining. So, when James says, \u201cDo not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be <strong><u>judged<\/u><\/strong>,\u201d this is the background for what he is explaining.\u00a0 I believe that the <strong><u>Numbers<\/u><\/strong> story to this Jewish audience would be foremost in their thinking.\u00a0 Why should we not complain against one another?\u00a0 Because of imminency.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026so that you yourselves may not be <strong><u>judged<\/u><\/strong>\u2026\u201d\u00a0 We know that God judges people for complaining per Numbers 16 in Korah\u2019s rebellion.\u00a0 \u2018Yeah, but that is just Old Testament stuff that I don't have to worry about, right?\u2019\u00a0 No, the doctrine of imminency tells us that \u201c<strong><u>the Judge is standing right at the door<\/u><\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, He can come back in the next split second, and it would be embarrassing at the Bema Seat Judgment if he was to catch me in a mindset of perpetual complaining.\u00a0 So, the idea that this is merely Old Testament stuff that you don't have to worry about\u2026well, you do, because of the doctrine of imminency or the any moment appearance of Jesus.\n\nJames continues on.\u00a0 By the way, why should we not complain against and judge each other?\u00a0 Because God will do that; God will take care of all things. \u00a0In 1 Cor 4:5, \u201cTherefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of <em>men\u2019s<\/em> hearts; and then each man\u2019s praise will come to him from God.\u201d \u00a0So, I don't have to put myself in the position of trying to evaluate the motives of other people; I do always want to evaluate their doctrine, because as a Christian, I am supposed to.\u00a0 But when we put ourselves in the position of judge, jury, and executioner, judging people\u2019s; motives, we should not want to do that type of thing because that is God's business; He will do the judging.\u00a0 He can do the judging any second because of imminency; He can appear in the next split second and get down to business related to that.\n\nAgain, notice how the doctrine of imminency is connected to life:\u00a0 patience, strength, and not complaining.\u00a0 \u2018Well, James, \u00a0I am having some struggles with this issue of patience; do you have any further examples?\u2019\u00a0 James says that he has two Old Testament examples in James 5:10-12.\u00a0 The first example of patience that we should follow is the example of the Old Testament prophets.\u00a0 In 5:10, \u201cAs an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Notice again in 5:10, number 1, \u2018brethren;\u2019 number 2, \u2018patience,\u2019 and number 3, \u2018an example.\u2019\u00a0 The first example he gave to us was the farmer.\n\nNow the example James is giving us are the Old Testament prophets.\u00a0 They provide, I think, a powerful example of what patience really is because they had a hard job.\u00a0 What was the function of an Old Testament prophet?\u00a0 Prophets arose after God established the office of the king.\u00a0 Remember the first king, Saul, then David, then Solomon, and then after Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided between the north and the south?\u00a0 The function of a prophet was to call the king back to God's truth.\u00a0 When the kings heard the message, they said, \u2018This is great; I'm so happy that you gave me some tips for life.\u2019\u00a0 No!\u00a0 Most of the kings were rotten to the core.\u00a0 The northern kingdom had 19 kings and how many good ones were there?\u00a0 Zero\u20140 and 19 is not your best season.\u00a0\u00a0 God had a little bit more grace for the southern kingdom.\u00a0 They had 20 kings, and how many good ones were there\u2014eight.\u00a0 And even they were good only some of the time; they weren\u2019t good all the time; they did a few things that were right.\u00a0 So, the prophets would arise and publicly challenge the king, and call the king back to God's covenant.\u00a0 The king essentially didn\u2019t want to hear a thing that they had to say because he didn\u2019t like being exposed as an evil doer.\u00a0 So, the king would crush the prophet to death.\u00a0 Prophet after prophet after prophet died during this arrangement because their job description was not politically correct.\u00a0 So, the prophets became a powerful example of patience.\n\nIn the Sermon on the Mount, Matt 5:10-12 says, \u201cBlessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0 \u201cBlessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.\u00a0 \u201cRejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; \u2026\u201d [Do you rejoice when people slander you? The Bible says that we should rejoice because we will have a great reward if we are being slandered for the cause of righteousness] \u201c\u2026for the in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.\u201d\u00a0 You are just fitting into the pattern of the Old Testament prophets.\u00a0 This is why most of the Old Testament prophets were killed.\u00a0 Matthew 23:35 says, \u201c\u2026so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar.\u201d\n\nWhen Jesus said, \u201c\u2026from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah,\u201d what He is saying is \u2018from the first prophet to the last one.\u2019\u00a0 Abel is recorded in the book of <strong><u>Genesis<\/u><\/strong>, and Zechariah (not the Zechariah you are thinking of in the big book of <strong><u>Zechariah<\/u><\/strong> in the Old Testament, but there is another prophet named Zechariah, and his story is recorded in <strong><u>Chronicles<\/u><\/strong> because the Jews didn\u2019t have first and second Chronicles; they only had one book:\u00a0 <strong><u>Chronicles<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 <strong><u>Chronicles<\/u><\/strong> is the last book of the Hebrew Bible; just as Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible.\u00a0 So, when Jesus said, \u2018Abel to Zecharia,\u2019 he is basically saying that all of them (these prophets) were murdered; they met untimely deaths; they didn\u2019t die of natural causes.\u00a0 Most of them were murdered:\u00a0 from <strong><u>Genesis<\/u><\/strong> to <strong><u>Chronicles<\/u><\/strong>; from the first book of the Hebrew Bible to the last book.\u00a0 From Abel to Zecharia; it would be like our saying that we believe the Bible from <strong><u>Genesis<\/u><\/strong> to <strong><u>Revelation<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0 That is the Jewish way of saying, \u2018all the prophets from Abel to Zechariah\u2019.\u00a0 Jesus says to study them out, and you will see the common thread of how they were persecuted, mistreated, slandered and rolled right over by the king who didn\u2019t want to hear what they had to say.\u00a0 These prophets got into trouble because in James 5:10, they spoke in the name of the Lord.\u00a0 That got them into trouble.\n\nIt reminds me of 1 Kings 22:8, a guy I can't wait to meet when I get to heaven.\u00a0 \u201cThe king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, [In other words, they're looking for a prophet, \u2018Get me a prophet, the king says, \u2018Ok, who should I get?]\u00a0 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, \u201cThere is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.\u00a0 He is Micaiah son of Imlah.\u201d\u00a0 But Jehoshaphat said, \u201cLet not the king say so.\u201d\u00a0 \u2018We need a prophet, guys, the king says, but don't get Micaiah because he never has anything nice to say about me.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 That was the attitude of the kings against the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord; this is why they were all persecuted.\n\nBy the way, what is our calling as Christians?\u00a0 To give our own opinions?\u00a0 We are also to speak in the name of the Lord.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t just a calling for the prophets, but your calling.\u00a0 In 1 Peter 4:11, \u201cWhoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; \u2026\u201d\n\nSo, my point is that we will also get into trouble with people, not because we are lude, crude and obnoxious, but because we represent righteousness in satan\u2019s world.\u00a0 When you get into trouble for doing nothing other than representing Christ, think about: (a) the imminent return of Jesus, (b) your reward because He says to rejoice in that day and to be glad when they slander you; and (c) the examples of the prophets.\u00a0 This happened to all of them; they were all mistreated \u2014 from the beginning of the Hebrew Bible to the end.\u00a0 James 5:10 is a wonderful source of strength for us.\n\nThe second example that James gives of patience in the midst of affliction is Job.\u00a0 James 5:11, \u201cWe count those blessed who endured.\u201d The person who is blessed is not merely the person who is persecuted or who suffers, but the one who endures through suffering.\u00a0 So, if you are in a situation where you're being treated unfairly and bearing up under that over an extended period, the Bible says that you are blessed.\u00a0 In fact, James 1:12 indicates that such a person is going to be given the Crown of Life at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ.\u00a0 James 1:12, \u201cBlessed is a man who perseveres under trial; \u2026\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t just say \u2018Blessed is the man or woman who <em>experiences<\/em> a trial; it is the one who <em>perseveres<\/em> under it\u2026\u2019\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 for once he has been approved, he will receive the Crown of Life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.\u201d \u00a0So, you must be approved to receive this Crown.\u00a0 This is not salvation; you already have that; this is a reward above and beyond salvation; a Crown that God wants to give to you at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ for persevering under unfair treatment.\n\nExamples of those who did that?\u00a0 Yes, the prophets in James 5:10; also, Job, you have heard of the endurance of Job, so he is the example.\u00a0 We studied the Book of <strong><u>Job<\/u><\/strong>; we know about all the bad things that happened to him, yet through it all, Job\u2019s speech was above reproach.\u00a0 After he lost everything; health, wealth, family, and he probably wished that God had killed his wife because she had nothing positive to say.\u00a0 She even said to him, \u2018Why don't you just curse God and die?\u2019\u00a0 \u2018Gee, honey, thanks for the moral support.\u2019\u00a0 What does it say in Job 1:22, \u201cThrough all this, Job did not sin nor did he blame God.\u201d\u00a0 Why is James bringing him up?\u00a0 Because he is dealing with complaining.\u00a0 If anyone had an opportunity to complain, it would be Job, but he didn\u2019t.\n\nThen in Job 2:10 when his wife suggested that he curse God and die, \u201cBut he said to her, \u201cYou speak as one of the foolish women speaks.\u00a0 Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?\u201d\u00a0 In all this Job did not sin with his lips.\u201d\u00a0 When things are going well, we are \u2018Praise the Lord, I'll go to church and raise my hands, praise Him, praise Him\u2026\u2019 but it is different when everything falls apart.\u00a0 Can we worship when everything is falling apart?\u00a0 The one who can worship when things are falling apart, is the one who is rewarded and blessed.\u00a0 \u201cIn all this Job did not sin with his lips.\u201d\u00a0 In the end, God vindicated Job.\u00a0 We count those blessed who have endured; you have heard of the endurance of Job (James 5:11) and you have seen the outcome of the Lord\u2019s dealings that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.\u00a0 What happened to Job at the end?\u00a0 Job 42:12, \u201cThe Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.\u201d\u00a0 They measured wealth in that period by livestock.\n\nBy the way, Job is a historical figure because there are a lot of people.\u00a0 Many will say that he wasn\u2019t really a person; it is the big idea of suffering that is important.\u00a0 No!\u00a0 He was a real person.\n\nThe book of Ezekiel 14:14,20 mentions three men:\u00a0 Noah, Daniel and Job.\u00a0 So, if you want to start playing games with Job and dehistoricize him, then you have to do the same with Daniel and Noah.\u00a0 The Old Testament itself, forgetting the New Testament, in the book of Ezekiel 14 tells us that Job was a real character; a real person; not a jokster.\n\nThen in James 5:12, \u201cBut above all, my brethren, \u2026 [speaking to Christians] \u2026 do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.\u201d\u00a0 Where is James quoting from here in his book?\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 He is quoting the Sermon on the Mount before the Sermon on the Mount was even captured in written form in Matthew\u2019s gospel because James is the first book, so James as the half-brother of Christ, I believe, was there when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 If he wasn\u2019t there, then maybe Jesus told it to him as a bedtime story or something.\u00a0 But James had a great knowledge of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount because in Matt 5:33-37, see the exact same statement quoted almost verbatim.\n\nSo, speaking of complaining, James transitions into \u2018Don't swear.\u2019\u00a0 Speaking of foolish speech, don't say foolish things.\u00a0 One of the foolish things that we can say is to complain or we can foolishly give ourselves to rash oaths.\u00a0 A lot of people who are legalists will look at 5:12 and state that you can't serve in the military because you must take an oath to your country.\u00a0 You can't be a witness in a court of law because you must take an oath in order to be a reliable witness.\u00a0 You can't be in the Boy Scouts (when I was growing up, there was a scouting oath, and I don't even want to know what they're doing now with the Boy Scouts if it even exists, but there was something), because the book of James says not to take an oath.\u00a0 That is not what it is talking about.\n\nIn Jesus\u2019 Sermon on the Mount, Matt 5:33-37, He is not saying to never take an oath.\u00a0 He is saying not to swear by something greater than yourself to convince the other person that you are reliable.\u00a0 Matt 5:33-37, \u201cAgain, you have heard that the ancients were told, \u2018YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE Lord.\u2019\u00a0 \u201cBut I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.\u00a0 \u201cNor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.\u00a0 \u201cBut let your statement be, \u2018Yes, yes\u2019 or \u2018No, no;\u2019 anything beyond these is of evil.\u201d\n\nLooking carefully, He isn\u2019t saying not to join the Boy Scouts or the military or be a witness in a court of law if you have to take an oath.\u00a0 That is a legalistic interpretation of this that isn\u2019t dealing with that at all.\u00a0 \u00a0It is saying that when you make a promise to someone, do not swear by Jerusalem or by God's throne because your word should be so reliable and your character so trustworthy that you don't have to swear by something greater than yourself to convince someone that you are telling the truth.\u00a0 For example, \u2018Ok, I make you a promise, and I swear on my mother\u2019s grave that I will keep my word.\u2019\u00a0 Why should I have to swear on my mother\u2019s grave if my character is reliable?\u00a0 If my character is reliable, and I am trustworthy, then I don't have to swear on my mother\u2019s grave.\u00a0 Saying that would be redundant; all I have to say is that this is what I am going to do, and my character is so reliable and dependable that you can trust it.\u00a0 That is what James is saying here as he is getting into foolish speech.\u00a0 Don't swear by something greater than yourself; just tell someone what you will do, and they will see your reliability and know that you will execute it.\n\nEphesians 4:25, \u201cTherefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.\u201d\u00a0 To convince you that I am telling the truth, I should not have to swear by Jerusalem, or by God's throne or by the black, gray, hairs of my head, etc.\u00a0 James and the Sermon on the Mount are saying, \u2018Why are you doing that; it is foolishness; just be a person of your word and you won't have to swear by something bigger than yourself.\u2019\u00a0 James works this in at the end because he is dealing with the subject of foolish speech and complaining.\n\nWisdom and waiting for the Lord\u2019s Return:\n\nI\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The example of the farmer (5:7)\n\nII\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The impact of imminency (5:8-9)\n\nIII\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Two great OT examples of patience under fire:\u00a0 the prophets of old and Job himself\n\n(5:10-12)\n\nLook at all of the verses we covered.\u00a0 We may be able to cover James 5:13-20 in two weeks!\u00a0 \u2018I swear on my mother\u2019s grave we will.\u2019\u00a0 (Said in jest)","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/james-027-perhaps-today\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sugar Land Bible Church - Bringing the Bible to Life\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"James 027 \u2013 Perhaps Today! - Sugar Land Bible Church\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/james-027-perhaps-today\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.slbc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/22075101\/SLBC-Logo-Square_10pct.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" 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