Thank you.
We respond when we meet injustice.
Well, James' readers were used to injustice.
Back in chapter 2, verse 6, James says,
the rich are the ones dragging you off into court,
harassing you.
We go into that again at the end of verse 6 of chapter 5.
Some of the poor Christians in this church were being exploited,
treated unjustly.
The powerless poor were helpless.
It's exactly the situation that many of our brothers and sisters around the world find themselves in,
like that church in Algeria,
with apparently no records,
where apparently Judge Hategood is in control of the court,
to go back to Vanity Fair.
So how are we to respond to that kind of injustice?
What are we to do?
How are James' readers to respond?
Well, James has just been highlighting,
verses 1 to 6,
a way not to respond.
Not to envy the wealthy and the powerful,
because they're going to lose everything.
Their money will rot.
They will be judged.
Not to emulate the envy,
the powerful and wealthy,
because that will not last.
It will not go anywhere.
This is God's world.
It does not belong to the elites.
It does not belong to the powerful nations,
or the powerful businesses,
or the powerful presidents.
It is God's world.
He is in control of it.
And the Lord Jesus will come back to judge.
That's really the point of verses 1 to 6
we looked at this morning.
Judgment is coming.
So how then should we live?
Well, James tells two things.
to us,
and these believers,
and these verses.
And the first is to live patiently,
because of the gospel hope.
Live patiently.
I'm sure you caught that in the reading.
Look at verse 7.
Be patient, therefore, brothers,
until the coming of the Lord.
See how the farmer waits
for precious fruits of the earth,
being patient about it.
And again in verse 8,
he will say,
be patient.
James is saying,
Christ will return.
A day will come
where everything is put right.
So be patient.
Wait patiently for that day.
Now does that mean,
be passive,
do nothing?
Well no,
look at the illustration he uses.
The patient farmer,
verse 7.
See how the farmer waits
for precious fruit of the earth,
being patient about it,
until he receives
the early and late rains.
Now what can the farmer do
to hasten the harvest?
Nothing.
He can't do anything, can he?
That's all in God's control.
When the rains come,
how the harvest grows,
that's God's job.
The farmer has to wait patiently.
So why does he wait?
Because it's a precious crop.
It's something he values,
it's something he's looking forward to.
And how does the farmer wait?
Is he passive?
Does he do nothing?
Well I'm sure we all know farmers,
even in a city like this,
we might not know farmers locally,
but perhaps we know some farmers,
or at least know something about farmers.
It's not like they sit there
and do nothing all the time
until harvest, is it?
There's work to be done
to kind of tend the crops,
to keep off the birds
that will eat them,
to kill off the weeds
that will grow up.
They're not passive.
They do things to facilitate
the crop, don't they?
They cooperate with the growth
of the harvest,
as they wait patiently for it.
And as Christians,
that's how we are to respond
to the trials and difficulties
of our own lives.
Be it injustice we experience,
or the everyday difficulties
that can affect anyone and everyone.
So if you remember how James
started this later,
it's worth turning back
to chapter 1,
verses 2 to 4.
Count it all joy, my brothers,
when you need trials
of various kinds.
How can we keep trials as joy?
Here's the reason.
For you know that the testing
of your faith
produces steadfastness,
and that steadfastness
have its full effect,
that you may be perfect
and complete,
lacking in nothing.
See, there is the harvest
that trials produce
in our own lives.
Steadfastness,
that as we cooperate with it,
makes us perfect
and complete,
lacking in nothing.
So there's what God,
in his grace,
wants to achieve in our lives.
He wants us to cooperate
with that,
with patience,
as he produces this harvest
of steadfastness,
and of maturity,
and completeness
in our lives.
So how exactly
do we do that?
How are we able
to wait patiently?
I find it hard enough
to wait patiently
for a bus when it's late.
I only wait patiently
during trials.
Well, look at what
James tells us
in verse 8.
Establish your hearts,
for the coming
of the Lord is at hand.
Establish your hearts.
A couple of weeks ago,
during the half-term break,
Mary, my wife,
took the kids down
to her mother
in Hampshire for a few days
while our kitchen
was being ripped apart.
And on their way back,
they got a flat tyre
on the M3,
and so had to pull in
just before the M3-M25 junction.
And Zoe,
being seven years old,
was somewhat upset
and perturbed
by the fact
they're now standing
next to a big motorway
with cars flying past.
I suspect
we can all
sympathise with her.
So what did Mary
all have to do
in that situation?
I don't phone the ADA,
she had to try
and establish
Zoe's heart
by reminding her
of the truth
of the fact
the AA man
was going to come
and they were going
to be top of the
priority list
because a single female
with two young children
and so the guy
came pretty quickly.
But her job
was to reassure her
with the truth
of the closeness
of the coming
of a rescuer.
To reassure her.
We even have
a greater truth,
a more imminent arrival
to look forward to.
The coming of the Lord
is at hand
says James.
So to establish
ourselves in that truth.
He is ready to appear.
He is close by.
The judge will come
to vindicate his people.
He's at hand
in the sense
that he has
nothing else to do.
Nothing else
for God
to complete
on his to-do list
other than
send the Lord Jesus back.
He is ready
to be revealed,
ready to come.
So James says
establish your hearts
as you wait
for his return.
If you're building
up a fence,
what do you do?
You have to dig down
deep to put the fence
pole in
to make sure
it's firm
and well established.
That's the idea here,
to establish,
to get this firmly fixed,
get our hearts
firmly fixed
in this truth.
So how do we do that?
Well, Paul
writing for Romans,
Romans 16, 25,
says that God
is able to establish
the same words,
establish or strengthen
our hearts
according to the gospel
and the preaching
of Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 3,
verse 2,
Paul sends Timothy
to the church
in Thessalonica
to establish
and exhort them
in the faith.
It's the same word again.
Do you see how
we get established?
Do you see how
our hearts get established?
It's by the gospel.
It's by feeding
on the gospel.
It's by listening
to the gospel,
by speaking the truth
of the gospel
to one another,
by gathering
around the Lord's table
as he strengthens
our hearts,
using the bread and wine
to strengthen
our faith
as bread
strengthens our bodies
for life.
Through speaking
the gospel
to one another,
through meditating
on the great gospel
promises,
we establish our hearts
in this truth
that the Lord Jesus
is coming back.
Indeed,
the Lord God Almighty
establishes our hearts.
That's what Paul
prays for for the
Thessalonians
later on in 1 Thessalonians 3.
So first,
we establish our hearts
so the hope
of the return
of the Lord Jesus
becomes more real
to us.
But also,
as our hearts
are established
in the gospel,
we are less shocked
by the horrors
and injustices
of the world,
aren't we?
Francis Schaeffer
said that a Christian
should never have
the reaction designated
by the word
shocked to anything.
Why?
Because if we believe
the gospel,
if we understand
the gospel,
then we know
the depravity,
the evil,
within our own hearts
naturally.
And so nothing
about the world
will shock
or surprise us.
People who do not
understand the gospel,
the average secular
person on the street
is horrified
by injustice
in the Middle East,
horrified by
child abuse scandals
of Jimmy Savile
and the like.
They're right to be
horrified,
but they don't
understand it.
They have a category
for it.
Why?
Because they do not
have a category
for sin.
If we understand
the gospel,
if our hearts
are established
in the gospel,
then no evil
in the world
will shock us
because we know
what we are capable
of.
We know the evil
we have been
redeemed from
by our Lord Jesus.
We know the sin
of our own hearts.
So we need to
establish our hearts
in the gospel
so we're not
surprised and
shocked on the
one hand by
pain and injustice,
but also on the
other hand so we
have hope.
So we remember
firmly the Lord
Jesus will come
back and we'll
put everything right.
That one day
every tear will
be wiped from
the eyes of
Jesus' people.
But the question
for all of us
here is,
are our hearts
established in
the gospel?
What are you
and I putting
our hope in?
What are we
putting our hope
in?
During all those
floods and
storms that we
had and the
snow that was
coming to New
York a few
months ago,
people are often
told to get
out of their
houses because
it was going
to be dangerous
or there were
tornadoes coming
through the
area.
People are
told to get
out, get
somewhere safe.
The question
for us is,
are we standing
somewhere safe?
Given this
judgment is
coming, given
Jesus the
judge is at
the door, at
hand, ready
to come back,
are we somewhere
safe?
What do we
put our hope
in?
What makes
you feel safe?
The fact you're
better than
others?
The fact you're
not like those
people over
there?
The fact that
you've been to
church?
The fact that
you try to be a
nice person,
you're open
minded, you try
to treat people
fairly?
Where is it
you put your
hope?
The way that
judgment comes,
you will not
be destroyed
but saved.
The truth is
none of us
live up to
our own
standards,
do we?
Let alone
live up to
God's
standards.
So if we're
going to be
safe when a
righteous,
perfect judge
comes back,
we need to
make sure that
our sin has
already been
paid for,
otherwise we
will pay for
it ourselves.
God has
provided a
way for
that.
The Lord
Jesus came
to earth to
live the
life that I
could never
live, that
you could
never live.
He died a
death on the
cross that we
deserve to
die and was
raised to new
life, to offer
forgiveness and
life to each
one of us.
So there is a
safe place to
be and that
safe place is in
the Lord Jesus,
to turn to
him in faith
and in repentance,
turning from
living our
own way,
with all our
selfishness,
with all our
judgmentalism
towards others
who don't
meet our
standards, and
to come to
Jesus and
say, I am a
rebel, I
need your
forgiveness, I
need you to
be my king,
please take
my sin and
let me be
yours.
So that's a
safe place to
stand, we're
to establish
our hearts in
that truth.
faith.
So that's the
first way we
live in a
world of
injustice and
suffering, we
live patiently
because of the
gospel hope, the
hope of sins
forgiven and
eternal life to
come where every
tear is wiped
away.
But there's a
second thing
James says as
well, if we're
living patiently
with the gospel
hope, how would
you expect that
to be seen?
How do you
expect James
to carry on
here?
I guess I'd
expect it to be
seen in our
ambitions, our
attitudes, what
our goals in
life are.
But James has
something very
different to
say.
He says that
hope will be
seen, that
patience will be
seen in the
way we speak, in
our words.
So firstly, we're
to live patiently
in the gospel
hope, and
secondly, we're
to speak with
integrity because
of the gospel
hope.
We're to speak
with integrity.
So speech has
been a big issue
for James all
the way through
this letter.
So if you
follow it through
for a moment,
chapter 1,
verse 26,
James says,
if anyone
thinks he's
religious and
does not bridle
his tongue but
deceives his
heart, this
person's religion
is worthless.
He goes on,
chapter 3,
verse 8,
says that no
human being,
it's on the
same page,
no human being
can control
the tongue.
No human being
can tame the
tongue, it is
a restless evil
full of deadly
poison.
With it we
bless our
Lord and
Father, with
it we curse
people who
are made in
the likeness
of God.
From the
same mouth
come blessing
and cursing.
My brothers,
these things
ought not to
be said.
Then chapter
4, verses
11 and 12,
he warns
about speaking
evil against
someone else,
judging someone
else.
Anyone who
does is judging
the law,
makes themselves
a lawbreaker.
See, for
James, the
way we use
our tongues
is all
important.
Why?
Well, it's
because what
Jesus said,
Matthew 12,
verse 34,
it is out of
the abundance
of the heart
that the mouth
speaks.
It's out of
the abundance
of the heart
that the mouth
speaks.
So we can
tell if we're
living patiently,
waiting patiently
because of the
gospel hope,
because of the
kind of things
that we say.
So let's
look at what
James says
about the
tongue there.
Speak with
integrity
because of
the gospel
hope.
He actually
gives us
two commands
to speak
with integrity
in verses
9 and 12.
First of all,
do not grumble
and secondly,
do not swear.
Look at verse
9, first of all.
Do not grumble.
Do not grumble
against one another,
brothers,
so that you
may not be
judged.
Now that word
translated grumbling
is also used
of groaning
in other parts
of the Bible.
So the word
Paul uses
in Romans
chapter 8,
23,
we're talking
about the
difficulties of
life.
We groan
inwardly,
waiting for the
redemption of
our bodies
when Christ
Jesus is
revealed.
But that's a
groaning upwardly
to God
in hope.
Whereas here,
James is talking
about a groaning
or a grumbling
that goes out
to one another.
See,
when we're under
pressure,
when life is
difficult for us
as individuals,
who do we
take it out
on most?
It's the people
closest to us,
isn't it?
If I'm having
a stressful day,
it's my wife
and my children
who sadly
will get their
brunt of it.
Because that's
what we're like.
Under pressure,
we say things
to the people
near us.
And that's what
James is
commanding us
not to do.
And there are
all sorts of
reasons people
could have
groaned and
grumbled against
each other
in this Christian
community James
is writing to.
The poor
could have
grumbled against
the rich who
are often
oppressing them.
The rich may
have grumbled
about the poor
and didn't
understand the
pressures they
were under.
And in churches
when life is hard
it's very easy
to grumble
about other
people.
If only they
would do what
they're supposed
to be doing.
If only they
would play their
part.
If only they
understood me.
And grumbling
is such an easy
thing, isn't it?
It's the lowest
common denominator.
I remember
a place I used
to work,
every lunchtime
pretty much,
what was the
conversation about
in the workplace?
It was kind of
good natured
grumbling about
the management
or about the
latest stupid
bit of advertising
the marketing
department had
put out or
whatever it was.
It was grumbling
because it's so
easy to find
things to grumble
about together.
Well at least
it is if you're
British anyway.
That's kind of
the way we are.
But James
says don't do it.
Don't do it.
Do not grumble
against one another
brothers so that
you may not be
judged.
Behold the judge
is standing
at the door.
I went to a
boarding school
for better or
worse and in
the door tree
at night there
would often be
a lot of chat
and people moaning
about the teachers
and moaning
about one another
as you'd imagine.
I still remember
those horrible
moments where we
were talking to
each other and
saying what bad
man our house
master was and
the door would
open and he'd be
standing there.
And you think
what have I just
said?
What did he just
hear?
Oh no!
Well that's the
idea here.
James is saying
the judge is at
the door.
Now that's a
good thing.
He's at the
door because he's
going to put
right what is
wrong.
He'll put the
end to all the
oppression and
injustice.
But it also
means he's
listening into
your conversations.
Be careful how
you speak.
It's a reason to
hope because he's
close.
It's a reason to
be careful.
Now that doesn't
mean that you say
the wrong thing
and you're going to
miss out on
eternal life.
No, we're not
saved by what we
say or we don't
say.
We're saved by the
grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by
faith in Christ
Jesus.
But scripture is
clear, there are
some levels of
rewards in one way
or another.
So we need to be
careful in what we
say.
And James uses a
couple of examples
to help us to not
grumble.
First of all, the
example of the
prophets, verse 10.
As an example of
suffering and
patience, brothers,
take the prophets
who spoke in the
name of the Lord.
Now the Old
Testament prophets
often had a really
hard time.
Jeremiah was so
hated by the
people he was
put down a
well and kind
of left there
to die, although
someone else dug
him back up
again.
There was a
legend, a
tradition had
arisen by the
first century that
prophet Isaiah was
sawn in two.
We'll read a bit
about that in
Hebrews chapter
11, verse 37.
So prophets
often suffered
terrible injustice
and yet how
did they respond?
They spoke in
the name of the
Lord, James
says.
They spoke God's
message.
Very often that
was denouncing the
injustices of the
day.
But they spoke
with integrity,
speaking God's
truth.
So their patience
certainly wasn't
passive.
It meant speaking
out.
And they suffered
for that and yet
James says, verse
11, behold we
consider those
blessed who remain
steadfast.
We look back
on the
Jeremiah's and
the Isaiah's and
the Amos's and
the Hosea's of
the day.
We consider them
blessed now because
their words were
used to build up
the church.
So James is
saying, keep
persevering in the
trials, speaking
truth.
I wonder, can you
think of people in
your own lives?
I know I can.
People who suffered
greatly as
Christians.
Maybe through
persecution, maybe
through ill
health.
And yet their
perseverance has
been a blessing
to others and we
consider them
blessed now.
Blessed by the
Lord God who
looked after them.
So that's
example one, the
prophets who
spoke in the name
of the Lord.
The second
example is Job,
down there in
verse 11.
You've heard of
the steadfastness
of Job.
Now Job in some
ways is an
unusual example.
If you've read
the book of Job
you'll know he's
a man who's
suffered hugely
in many ways.
Yet he spends a
lot of time
groaning.
But Job's
groaning was to
the Lord rather
than to other
people most of
the time.
He groaned to
the Lord in
prayer rather
than grumbling
about those
around him.
And he spoke
what was right.
So for example,
right at the
beginning of the
book, Job's
wife tells him
to curse God
and die.
But he said
to her, you
speak as one
other foolish
women would
speak.
Shall we
receive good
from God
and shall we
not receive
evil?
In all this,
Job did not
sin with his
lips.
And at the
end of the
book of Job,
Job chapter
42 verse 7,
as the Lord
appears to
Job, the
Lord then
turns to
Job's
comforters,
who'd spoken
lies all the
way through,
and says
this to
his comforters,
to Eliphaz
the Temanite,
My anger
burns against
you and
against your
two friends,
for you
have not
spoken of
me what
is right,
as my
servant Job
has.
See why
James is
using this
example?
With all
the pressure,
with all
the suffering,
with all
his complaining
to God,
and praying
to God,
Job spoke
what is
right.
Not like
his counsellors,
who are mere
moralists,
who assumed
Job must have
done something
wrong to be
suffering.
And we've
got people
like that
today,
don't we?
The health
and wealth
prosperity
gospel people,
who will
say if
you're
suffering,
it's because
you don't
have enough
faith.
That's
speaking a
lie about
God,
it's not
speaking with
integrity
because of
the gospel
hope.
Also some
other theologians
who will
speak lies
about God,
trying to
make life
easier for
people.
So a few
years ago
there was a
movement called
the openness
of God.
They said God
isn't really in
control of
everything,
God just
kind of
mix it up
as he
goes along.
So if
something bad
happens to
you,
it's not
God's brought
that into
your life,
it's just
God's going
to pull a
few other
levers and
make things
work out a
bit differently.
And what
they were
trying to
do was
kind of
make God
sound nicer
or something.
Yet what
they were
actually doing
was distorting
God's
character.
They were
not speaking
the truth
with
integrity.
But you
see how
James reminds
us of
God's
character
here.
There's
another
reason for
hope.
You've
seen the
purpose of
the Lord,
how the
Lord is
compassionate
and merciful.
And what
was the
purpose of
the Lord?
Well in
Job's
life,
Job never
found out
the purpose.
But the
reader does
at the end,
Job chapter
42,
he says
of the
Lord,
I had
heard of
you by
the hearing
of the
ear.
Now my
eye has
seen you,
therefore I
despise
myself and
repent in
dust and
ashes.
What was
the Lord's
purpose in
Job's
life?
So that
Job could
know the
Lord better.
What is
the Lord's
purpose for
suffering and
injustice and
trials in
our lives?
Miserable as
they can be?
That's what we
read earlier
from James
chapter 1.
It is so
that the
testing of
our faith
will produce
steadfastness
and that
steadfastness
will get
full effect.
And we
may be
perfect and
complete,
lucky and
nothing.
See,
God is
compassionate.
He will
use trials
and difficulties
in our
lives so
they know
him better
and be
perfect and
complete.
And the
Lord's
character is
an encouragement
in that.
He is
compassionate and
merciful.
So James
says,
don't grumble.
Don't grumble.
Speak with
integrity because
of the gospel
hope and
don't grumble.
And secondly,
verse 12,
do not swear.
Above all,
my brothers,
do not swear,
either by
heaven or
by earth or
by any
other oath,
but let
your yes
be yes,
your no
be no,
so that you
may not fall
into condemnation.
Now why does
James say that
here?
What's that
going to do
with suffering
and trials
and injustice?
Well,
it could be
that some of
the poor
who are being
oppressed
by the rich
would say,
look,
we promised
to pay that
debt.
I swear I'll
pay it.
And they
would get
themselves into
even more
difficulties.
Or it may
be people
within the
Christian community
were promising,
swearing to
help one
another,
and then were
failing to meet
those demands.
Maybe even the
rich were promising
to let people
off and they're
not doing it.
Truth is,
we don't quite
know if any
one of those
things are
possible,
aren't they?
what can
happen to
us when we
see people
in difficulties?
We can promise
to help,
but then fail
to do it.
Because we
promise more
than we can
deliver.
We can promise
to pray,
but then we
fail to.
See,
what's underlying
all this is
the need to
speak with
integrity.
The Lord
Jesus himself
said,
Matthew
chapter 5,
Do not
swear by
heaven or
by earth.
Do not
take an
oath by
your head
if you
cannot make
one hair
white or
black.
Let what
you say
simply be
yes or
no.
Anything
more than
this comes
from evil.
The point
is we're
to be people
of integrity,
that we do
what we say
we'll do,
whatever the
pressure is
upon us,
because we're
Jesus people,
we're people
who simply
say yes or
no.
We speak
with integrity
because of
the gospel
hype.
And that
is possible
because as
we trust in
Jesus,
we're made
into new
people.
James said
back in the
beginning of
the letter,
chapter 1,
verse 18,
that God
has brought
us forth
by the
word of
truth.
We might
be a
kind of
first fruit
of his
new
creatures.
God is
making us
new through
the gospel.
So to speak
with integrity
because of
the gospel
hope,
and to
live patiently
because of
the gospel
hope.
because one
day,
Jesus is
coming back.
The judge
is at the
door.
He is
ready to
come back.
And what
will happen
when he
does come
back?
Let me read
to you
from 2
Thessalonians
chapter 1,
a little
reminder of
what will
happen on
that day
for all our
oppressed
brothers and
sisters around
the world.
What is
going to
come?
Paul says
there,
they,
those who
oppress
you,
those who
persecute
you,
will suffer
the punishment
of eternal
destruction
away from
the presence
of the
Lord,
from the
glory of
his might,
when he
comes on
that day
to be
glorified in
his saints
and to be
marveled at
among all
those who
believed.
That is what
is going to
happen one
day.
The judge
is at the
door,
ready to
come back.
the oppressors,
the governments
who oppress
the church
like that
church in
Algeria,
will face
judgment.
Everyone who
does not
obey the
gospel,
as Paul
puts it
here,
he will
reflect vengeance
on those
who do not
know God
and on those
who do not
obey the
gospel of
our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Those who
have not
vowed before
Jesus,
the Lord,
and repented
and believed
in him,
will face
judgment.
So in the
meantime,
how do we
live?
We live with
patience because
of the gospel
hope.
The world will
be put right
when Jesus
comes back.
We speak
with integrity
because of
the gospel
hope.
Because we
are being
made into
new people
through the
word of
truth.
And if you
have not yet
bowed the
knee to
obey the
gospel of
our Lord
Jesus,
then please
do it now.
The judge
is at the
door.
Turn to him
tonight before
it is too
late because
he is coming.
Let's pray.