WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.120 Amen. Amen. You may be seated, children. We are ready for Children's Church at this time. 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:14.040 ! You may make your way to the back to see Miss Savannah back there. And what a joy it is to be 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:20.799 worshiping today. I'm so grateful to be here and just wanted to give a quick update on their 00:00:20.799 --> 00:00:26.119 mission team. That is, the three that have gone from our church and the over 200 from around the 00:00:26.119 --> 00:00:33.239 state, they have made it to Cuba. Clay, Lorraine, and Rex from our church here, we were a little 00:00:33.239 --> 00:00:38.899 nervous. They got the approval pretty quickly for the visas, but they didn't actually get the visas 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:43.120 in hand. And it's one thing to know that they're approved, and it's a whole other thing to actually 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:48.459 have them to show you have proof that they are approved. And so they got those. They were leaving 00:00:48.459 --> 00:00:56.559 about 2.30 on Thursday morning. Those got emailed out at 1 a.m., so about an hour and a half before 00:00:56.559 --> 00:01:01.859 they left. And so they were just a little bit nervous about that, but very thankful that that 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:09.079 came through. They're already there serving and ministering. And so just continue to be in prayer 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:15.579 for all of those that are in Cuba right now with the sons of Jubal, Jubaliers, and those with them. 00:01:15.679 --> 00:01:21.400 So very thankful that they were able to make it. I'm going to start with a question here. Have you ever 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:30.000 noticed how impatient people have become lately? I mean, I think we can all realize that people have 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.680 become impatient lately. And a lot of times we think, oh, well, everybody else is impatient, right? 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:40.240 We're not impatient, but I want to ask you something. When was the last time or have you ever 00:01:40.240 --> 00:01:46.360 gotten really frustrated because you had to wait in line in a drive-thru for seven minutes? 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:52.160 Has anybody ever, am I the only, okay, there's three of us that have. Everybody else is lying because I 00:01:52.160 --> 00:01:57.320 know you have. But we all, we get impatient with those things. But I want you to think about that 00:01:57.320 --> 00:02:03.400 with me for a second. Can you imagine if we shared that frustration with somebody 50 years ago, 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:08.659 that we came in the next day, we're still mad about it the night before. You're not going to believe 00:02:08.659 --> 00:02:15.180 this. I had to wait seven, I ordered a double cheeseburger, fries, a Coke, and a milkshake, and I 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:20.219 had to wait seven minutes for it. You're not going to believe that. And I can just imagine that the 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:24.540 person that you're, the co-worker that you're talking to says, well, I had the same thing and it took me 00:02:24.540 --> 00:02:29.780 two and a half hours to make all of that. And so you can imagine that there's this, there's, there's 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:35.699 something about it now where it's become really hard to be patient. You know, we, we live in a time 00:02:35.699 --> 00:02:41.620 where we have so many things going on and we have so many ways to make those things more efficient, 00:02:41.620 --> 00:02:49.520 yet we still are struggling with patience. We have microwaves that can heat up our food in 30 seconds, 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:55.280 washers and dryers where you just dump everything. Well, at least I dump everything in and turn it on 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:01.340 and let it go. And you have all of these things to make life more efficient, yet we're busier than 00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:08.259 ever and more impatient than ever. And so one of the things that I've found that is, that it's, 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:12.900 it's difficult to do is be patient in the day and time that we live, but it's even more difficult 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:20.420 to be patient when life is hard. When we're experiencing pain and suffering, and it's sad to say, 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:26.019 but the first people to know that it's been a long, hard day for me without ever saying a word or my 00:03:26.019 --> 00:03:31.259 family when I walk in the door. If it's been one of those days, you know, your, your patience is a 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:38.899 little thinner. It's more difficult. I, I, it's, it's hard to, to be patient with them. Patience when life 00:03:38.899 --> 00:03:46.599 is painful is tough, but patience when life is painful is what James is calling us to do. 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:54.120 I'm sure that you can guess by now, somewhat from our previous interactions with James, that James's 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:59.560 advice is usually direct. It's to the point and it's very practical. And I think you'll find that 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:04.919 to be the case as we look at these, these passage, this passage today, as we look at verses seven 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:10.599 through 12 of James chapter five. And so if you have a copy of God's word, want to invite you to turn 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:15.680 with me to James chapter five. We're going to start in verse seven. And this is what it says. 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:24.120 Be patient therefore brothers until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:31.959 fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:39.079 be patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:46.879 another brothers so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. As an 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:52.519 example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:59.539 Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job 00:04:59.539 --> 00:05:07.199 and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:14.800 my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:23.060 and your no be no so that you may not fall under condemnation. You know, this passage is a, is a 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:31.240 difficult one to preach because it's difficult to think about. Much of it is dealing with suffering 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:37.160 in this life. And I don't know if you're like me, but I don't like to suffer very much. I don't enjoy 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:46.120 suffering in my life and I don't enjoy as a pastor seeing suffering in your life. But one thing is 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:54.460 certain, and that is this, because of sin, this world is not as it was created. The fall has affected 00:05:54.459 --> 00:06:01.159 this world. And in this world, we will experience pain and suffering. In fact, Jesus says this, he says, 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:07.979 in this world, you will have tribulation. He says, in this world, you will have tribulation. You will 00:06:07.979 --> 00:06:14.339 have suffering. You will have pain. This is a promise from, you know, we love to, to claim the promises of 00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:19.019 Jesus. This isn't one that we're all the time claiming, oh, in this life, I'm going to have tribulation. 00:06:19.019 --> 00:06:25.399 But that's what Jesus says. But he also continues right after that. He says, in this life, you will 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:33.319 have tribulation. But he says, but take heart. He says, but take heart. I have overcome the world. 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:39.120 Yes, there's going to be difficulties. Yes, there's going to be hardships. Yes, there's going to be 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:45.779 challenges that we face in this life. But we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:52.679 This is the hope that we cling to. This is the hope that James highlights in this passage. And so this 00:06:52.679 --> 00:06:57.979 week, I struggled some to outline this passage. There's those weeks when you read a passage and 00:06:57.979 --> 00:07:03.659 it's like it just jumps off the page to you and you can't write fast enough. And as a pastor, you love 00:07:03.659 --> 00:07:09.939 those weeks because it goes quickly there. But some weeks you struggle and you wrestle with a passage. 00:07:10.059 --> 00:07:14.179 And that was the case this week. And so the outline and the way that we're going to have this 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:21.300 structure looks a little different than I typically do, we'll have one main overarching theme and point 00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:25.660 that we're going to be looking at. And then we're going to have several encouragements that go along 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:31.319 with that. And so from this passage, the main thing that I want us to see this week is this. 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:39.620 Patience when life is painful is only possible when our eyes are fixed on Jesus. 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:48.420 Patience when life is painful is only possible when our eyes are fixed on Jesus. I want to encourage 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:53.340 you to look at that passage. If you still have your Bible open, look at this passage. There's something, 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:58.620 there's a theme that keeps getting repeated all throughout this. And it's this idea of patience 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:04.019 and waiting and steadfastness. Look at just the number of times it's said here. It says, 00:08:04.019 --> 00:08:11.740 be patient therefore. See how the farmer waits. You also be patient. As an example of suffering and 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:19.579 patience, brothers. And then he says, remember those, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:26.259 And you've heard of the steadfastness of Job. So over and over again, you see this idea of patience, 00:08:26.259 --> 00:08:33.439 patience. But there's also another theme that is at play in this. To begin with, he says, be patient 00:08:33.439 --> 00:08:38.980 therefore. Now, if you ever see a therefore in scripture, you want to look to see what it's 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:45.620 therefore. And usually it's referring back to what it was just talking about. And so previously, what 00:08:45.620 --> 00:08:54.080 James is addressing is these rich who were oppressing the poor, those unbelievers who were oppressing 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:59.840 the Christians. And he says, you're experiencing all of these trials and tribulations at the hands of 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:07.120 these wealthy unbelievers. And he says, now be patient therefore, brothers. So in the midst of 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:14.440 that suffering, be patient. And he says an example of suffering and patience. And then he says, you've 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:19.620 heard of the steadfastness of Job. Well, if there's one thing that we know about Job, it's that he suffered, 00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:28.000 right? And so what you see over and over again in this very short passage is both patience, this 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:35.179 faithfulness, this steadfastness, and suffering working together. And sometimes it's hard for us 00:09:35.179 --> 00:09:40.960 to reconcile those things together. But that's what this passage is doing. This passage, more than 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:47.960 addressing the cause of pain and suffering, is addressing what we do with pain and suffering. 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:52.840 If you're hoping that this passage is going to give you an answer for the pain and suffering, 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:58.000 it's not going to do that, but it is going to show us what we do with that pain and suffering. 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:06.660 Much of our ability to have patience in this life hinges on our view of God. If we see God as a 00:10:06.660 --> 00:10:11.680 genie in a bottle who's only there to make our life better and give us everything that we could ever 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:18.379 dream of and more, then this is going to be hard to hear, let alone apply this message this morning. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:28.239 But if we see God for who he is, then it changes everything. If we catch a glimpse of who God is, 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:35.339 that he is so much higher and stronger and more powerful and wiser than anything we could imagine, 00:10:35.439 --> 00:10:40.519 then it's going to give us some perspective on what to do in the midst of those difficulties. 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:45.860 And it is my hope and prayer this morning that we get a better glimpse of who God is. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:52.500 And that glimpse begins to put perspective in our lives that allows us to remain faithful 00:10:52.500 --> 00:11:01.480 in the midst of suffering. And so this passage is written to believers. He's now moving from the 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:07.759 rich who oppress those and addressing them to going back to the brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:13.700 He's writing to believers and this is what he's sharing with us. And so the first encouragement 00:11:13.700 --> 00:11:21.019 that he gives to believers as a means of being patient in the midst of suffering is this. He says, 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:29.000 to be patient because the Lord is coming. Be patient because the Lord is coming. He says, 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:36.159 be patient therefore brothers until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:45.139 fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient. 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:52.799 Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. And the first thing that I want us to be 00:11:52.799 --> 00:12:01.579 encouraged by concerning patience and pain is the fact that Christ is returning. Jesus is coming back. 00:12:01.579 --> 00:12:06.799 And we know that Jesus is returning. And we know that when he returns, one of the things that he's 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:14.319 going to be doing is judging sinners. And this should be a very sobering reality for us. Because the Bible 00:12:14.319 --> 00:12:21.139 doesn't mince words concerning who falls into the category of sinners. Each and every person, 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:27.220 each and every one of us falls into that category of a sinner. Everyone is a sinner. Everyone has 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:34.080 turned from God. Everyone has chosen themselves and their desires over God time and time again. 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:40.319 But we also know from Scripture that you don't want to be the one paying the price for your sin. 00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:46.939 It will be an internal judgment that you do not want to be responsible for. 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:53.220 But we also know in Scripture that you don't have to be the one to pay that sin debt. 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:59.580 Jesus willingly left the glory of heaven, lived the life that you and I couldn't live, 00:12:59.920 --> 00:13:06.460 that perfect life, that righteous life, and died the death we deserve so that your judgment, 00:13:06.680 --> 00:13:12.160 my judgment, can be placed on him and his righteousness can be given to me. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:19.240 What this means is that the best way that we can prepare ourselves for the return of Christ 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:25.819 is by giving our lives to him and placing our trust in him. And the best news is that this is 00:13:25.819 --> 00:13:31.379 something that you can do today. And so after the service, if this is something that you have in 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:37.039 question where you've never given your life to Jesus, then there is nothing more that I would love 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:42.179 to do than share the good news of the gospel with you. Because that is the best way that we can 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:48.079 prepare our hearts and minds for the return of Christ. So we see that that part of patience and pain 00:13:48.079 --> 00:13:55.919 is understanding that we were created for another world. And because of Christ, we have the promise 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:03.099 of that other world. This is what gives us hope in this world, that this is not our forever home. 00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:10.540 This is not how it's going to be forever. We have the promise of heaven. David Platt says it like this. 00:14:10.899 --> 00:14:20.000 He says, patience when life is painful in this world is only possible when our eyes are fixed on another 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:27.240 world. Patience when life is painful in this world is only possible when our eyes are fixed on another 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:34.820 world. Christ is going to come again. When he does, he is going to redeem those who trust him. 00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:42.200 The question that we must answer is, what will we be doing when he returns? There is so much speculation 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:47.840 right now. And honestly, I think there's always been speculation. I think the early church, the 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:52.480 apostles, I think they were pretty sure that Jesus was going to come back in their lifetime. I feel like 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:57.720 they thought that. And in so many other places throughout history, people have been very confident 00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:04.139 in that. And we can look around and try to see things. And there's something to that. It shouldn't 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:09.740 be something that we ignore, but we shouldn't put all of our effort in that. Because what we have 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:16.740 find ourselves doing is we're being so concerned on when that will be and not what we will be doing 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:23.680 when that happens. I don't know the best way to, I don't know when Christ will return, but the best 00:15:23.680 --> 00:15:29.919 way to prepare for his return is not to sit back and wait for his return, but to get busy doing 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:37.840 everything we can, bringing people to faith in him until he does return. We must never get so focused 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:44.419 on when that will happen that we lose sight of what we are supposed to be doing until that happens. 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:50.699 He says, look at the farmer in this story for just a moment. See how the farmer waits for the precious 00:15:50.699 --> 00:15:58.899 fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. The farmer 00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:06.620 waits for the early rains and the late rains. Can I point out something obvious but easily overlooked 00:16:06.620 --> 00:16:14.259 here? I think the obvious truth here is the farmer can't control the rain. The farmer can't do 00:16:14.259 --> 00:16:20.720 anything about the rain, but the farmer can control what he does until that rain comes. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:27.460 Platt again put it this way. He says, honor God with what you can control and trust God with what you 00:16:27.460 --> 00:16:34.019 can't control. Faithfully do what God calls you to do. Prepare for the harvest. Prepare for Christ's 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:41.480 return. Live the faithful life that God has called you to live and trust God with what you can't control. 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:49.560 Be like the farmer here who works and prepares, but more than anything, he trusts. More than anything, 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:56.080 he trusts that the rain is coming. Think about that. The farmer, if he didn't actually believe the rain 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:01.060 was coming, all of that work would be in vain. He wouldn't even do it if he didn't believe that it 00:17:01.060 --> 00:17:07.980 was coming because he's dependent on that coming. He's dependent on that rain to give fruit to what he has 00:17:07.980 --> 00:17:16.339 been working on. What allows us to be patient in pain is the promise that the rain is coming, that Christ 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:24.440 is coming, and when he does, he's going to come and he's going to make all things new. And so part of the 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:30.980 patience in pain, part of the faithfulness that we have in the midst of suffering is understanding that Christ is 00:17:30.980 --> 00:17:38.500 coming. And we have a hope that is far greater than anything this world can provide. James also encourages 00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:46.420 us to be patient and truthful with others. Be patient and truthful with others. We see this in verse 9 00:17:46.420 --> 00:17:52.860 and then jumping down to verse 12. It says, do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not 00:17:52.859 --> 00:18:00.879 be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. In verse 12, but above all, my brothers, do not swear 00:18:00.879 --> 00:18:06.879 either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you 00:18:06.879 --> 00:18:14.479 may not fall under condemnation. You know, it is all too easy when facing ongoing pressure and even 00:18:14.479 --> 00:18:22.500 injustices in this life to take our frustration out on those that we care about the most. How often are we 00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:28.660 kind and considerate to people that we don't even know? Yet as soon as we walk in the door after a hard 00:18:28.660 --> 00:18:35.440 day, our family takes the brunt of that frustration. We begin to grumble against one another. And when we 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:42.460 do that, our focus is taken off of God and it's put on ourselves. Our agenda becomes what is most 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:50.779 important. And we oftentimes find ourselves lying or at least withholding the truth in order to make sure 00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:58.220 we get our way and receive the recognition that we deserve. John MacArthur, he says it like this. He 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:04.899 says, fallen men are basically liars. Children lie to their parents. Parents lie to their children. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:11.259 Husbands lie to their parents. Parents lie to their children. Husbands to their wives and wives to their 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:19.240 husbands. People lie to their employers who in turn lie to them and often lie to the public. Politicians lie to 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:25.559 get elected and they continue to lie once they are in office. But people lie to the government, perhaps 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:33.079 most notably on their income tax returns. Educators lie. Scientists lie. Members of the media lie. Our 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:41.620 society is built on a framework of lies. And now with AI, you really don't know what to believe. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:45.700 You know, Catherine sometimes gets fooled by, I should have asked her before I told this story, 00:19:45.700 --> 00:19:52.680 but sometimes she gets fooled by those AI videos that you see online. And so she was watching 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:57.559 something the other day. She goes, look, look, look at this. This is amazing. And she showed me this 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:04.480 video and it looked like a backyard security camera that was just on somebody's backyard. And all of a 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:11.200 sudden you see this bear walking through the backyard and it gets on a trampoline and starts bouncing and 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:17.059 jumping on the trampoline. She goes, isn't this amazing? And I said, sweetie, I'm pretty sure this 00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:22.080 is AI. And she's like, no, no. And she started looking through the comments. She's like, okay, it's AI. 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:29.160 But you don't know what to believe anymore. So much of this is going on, that is going on, it's hard to 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:36.740 see it. We live in a world full of lies, but Christians should stand in stark contrast to this. 00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:45.460 Our words should be true. If we want people to believe what we say about Christ, then what we say 00:20:45.460 --> 00:20:53.400 about everything else better be true. It better be true and trustworthy. When our focus is taken off of 00:20:53.400 --> 00:21:01.000 God and placed on ourselves, we begin to lie and we begin to argue with others. And in doing so, we become 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:09.400 so much less effective in reaching people with the greatest truth the world has ever known. Now, if you 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:17.819 are in a game or watching a game, do you know when the game is over? Do you know when a team is defeated? 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:24.680 It's not necessarily always when that scoreboard hits zero, but when you look across the sideline or you 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:30.220 look at your own sideline and you see your team start arguing with one another. All of a sudden, when 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:37.660 you see the other team arguing amongst themselves, then you know, oh, we've got this. Because they're 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:43.259 no longer fighting against you, they're fighting against themselves. They're no longer taking their 00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:49.200 energy and working together to accomplish a goal, but now they're bickering and fighting amongst 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:55.100 themselves. Now, a good coach can rally everyone back together, but as long as you are fighting with 00:21:55.099 --> 00:22:01.559 each other, you are being very unproductive against the other team. And churches that fight amongst 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:09.039 themselves are very unproductive in the kingdom of God. When we see all of this bickering and going on 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:15.819 with one another, we become so much less effective to reach our lost and dying world. This is not how 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:22.019 we want Lord Jesus to find us upon his return. Sam Alberry, he notes, he says again, 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:31.180 it is the nearness of the Lord that is our impetus to live rightly. The judge is at the door and it is 00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:38.240 hard to imagine him nearer than that. The handle is about to turn and we are about to speak to one 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:44.619 and so we are to speak to one another in such a way that we would not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:52.179 himself being within earshot. We must live in such a way that people see there's something different 00:22:52.179 --> 00:22:59.339 about us. Let our actions, the way that we interact with brothers and sisters in Christ, show a lost and 00:22:59.339 --> 00:23:07.099 dying world that there's something different about us. That even in the midst of suffering, even in the 00:23:07.099 --> 00:23:14.599 midst of pain, there's something different about them. And let that be what drives us to share our faith. 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:24.219 Finally, James encourages us to be patient because God is faithful. Be patient because God is faithful. 00:23:24.819 --> 00:23:31.819 Verses 10 and 11 says, as an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in 00:23:31.819 --> 00:23:38.220 the name of the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:45.779 steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 00:23:46.839 --> 00:23:54.019 When you think of the people, the faithful people of the Old Testament that we may call heroes of the faith, 00:23:54.460 --> 00:23:58.939 there is no doubt that many prophets will come to mind as you think about those people. 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:07.200 Yet many of them lived a life of suffering. Many of them, when you actually look at their lives and 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:12.200 and now we look back and think, oh, these are great men of faith who stood up for the Lord. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:18.779 But that's not necessarily how they were all seen at the time that they were living. And this is why I 00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:24.039 think it is so important for us to see this and that we need to be reminded of this because it is 00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:32.299 possible for for Western Christians, especially to feel as though comfort in life and going and everything going 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:40.139 well are the norm in the Christian life. And that it is abnormal when we experience difficulties. But the Bible 00:24:40.139 --> 00:24:48.180 nowhere leads us to have such an expectation. Indeed, it is full of examples to the contrary. Suffering of one kind 00:24:48.180 --> 00:24:56.200 of one another is normal for the life and for the people of God. It is not a sign that things have gone wrong. 00:24:56.560 --> 00:25:04.500 James says, look at the prophets. Look at the suffering that they experienced. And I firmly believe that if James 00:25:04.500 --> 00:25:09.259 lived longer and he wrote this at a later date, he would have also included the apostles in that. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:13.279 He would have said, look at the people. Look at the apostles. Look at the ones who were with Jesus, 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:18.480 who are faithfully following him. Look at how they've suffered. Look at the difficulties that 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:25.920 they're going through. It is not a promise that life is going to be easy. God never promises a life of 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:35.879 ease. That is why a health and wealth prosperity gospel is so dangerous. Because it is a lie. Your best 00:25:35.879 --> 00:25:43.180 life now is not here, but the life to come. That's the hope that we cling to. And then he uses the example 00:25:43.180 --> 00:25:47.539 of Job. Now, if there's two things that we know, if there's one thing we know about Job, it's that he 00:25:47.539 --> 00:25:53.360 suffered. But if there's two things that we know about Job, it's that he was patient, right? You hear 00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:59.120 the patience of Job and you hear the suffering of Job. And so Job is used as an example here of this 00:25:59.120 --> 00:26:05.880 patience and suffering working together. God never promises that this life will be a life of luxury 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:11.900 that is free of hardships. But he does promise that he loves us and that he will be with us. 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:19.420 Think about the words from Lamentations 3 with me. This is Jeremiah writing here. And he says this, 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:26.700 he says, he has made my chains heavy. He has turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces. 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:34.720 He has made me desolate. My soul is bereft of peace. I have forgotten what happiness is. So I say, 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:42.059 my endurance has perished. You see, Jeremiah is writing at a very dark and difficult time in his 00:26:42.059 --> 00:26:50.000 life. The nation that he loves so dearly is rightly experiencing the wrath of God. And it's very 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:57.600 difficult and emotional time for him and the people of Israel. But he also knows that God's faithful. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:04.619 He also knows the promises of God. And so in the midst of this lament, he says these words. He says, 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:13.619 but this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:19.839 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. How do we know the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases? 00:27:20.259 --> 00:27:25.679 Well, it's abundantly clear as we read through scripture. It never promises that we'll not experience 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:31.019 difficult times. In fact, it tells us that we will. But what it makes very clear is that we have a God 00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:36.019 who is there with us on every mountaintop, every valley, and everywhere in between. 00:27:36.860 --> 00:27:43.500 And he continues, he says, his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your 00:27:43.500 --> 00:27:50.480 faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him. The Lord is good to 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:55.660 those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for 00:27:55.660 --> 00:28:04.279 the salvation of the Lord. Isn't it wonderful to know this? That God's mercies know no limit. 00:28:05.360 --> 00:28:12.300 And they are something that we can experience fresh every single morning. The question now becomes, 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:19.940 do we believe all these things and do we trust them? In the midst of pain and suffering, our patience, 00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:26.940 our steadfastness, our faithfulness depends on our belief in the faithfulness of God and our belief that 00:28:26.940 --> 00:28:34.980 he's coming again to make all things new. My favorite way to think about this as far as placing your faith 00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:41.080 and your trust in Jesus and understanding what that means is, is thinking of it as a trust fall. And I don't 00:28:41.080 --> 00:28:45.140 know if you've ever done a trust fall, but there's two elements at play when you're doing a trust fall. 00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:51.360 One, you have to trust the person's ability to catch you. You're not going to do a trust fall with 00:28:51.360 --> 00:28:55.840 someone who doesn't have the ability to catch you, no matter how willing they are to do it. 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:00.860 You're not going to do a trust fall then if they don't have the ability to do it. And then the second 00:29:00.860 --> 00:29:05.800 part at play that a lot of times that we don't even think about is you're putting a lot of trust in 00:29:05.800 --> 00:29:12.940 their willingness to use their ability to catch you. And their willingness to actually be there to 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:17.920 catch you. And once you have both of those things, once you have confidence in both of those things, 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:24.700 then you're willing to do a trust fall. All throughout scripture, we see that God is able 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:34.200 and we see that God is willing. Paul in Ephesians says, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly 00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:41.039 than all we ask or think according to the power that is work in us, God is able. 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:50.759 And then Paul in Romans says, if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:59.940 but gave him up for us all, how will he also not with him graciously give us all things? God is 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:08.200 willing. If the impossible didn't stop God, the giving of his only son didn't stop him, 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:15.039 then nothing will stop him from loving you. Nothing will stop him from being there in the midst of pain and 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:24.500 suffering with you. This is what we cling to. Patience when life is painful is only possible when our eyes 00:30:24.500 --> 00:30:32.660 are fixed on Jesus. Believe in the promises of God. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and remain faithful to what 00:30:32.660 --> 00:30:39.740 God has called us to do no matter the circumstances. Father, thank you so very much for your word. 00:30:40.540 --> 00:30:45.940 Thank you for the encouragement that it gives us that doesn't gloss over the fact that we're going to 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:53.340 deal with pain and suffering, but it meets it head on. Letting us know that in this life, there will be 00:30:53.340 --> 00:30:59.300 tribulation. There will be difficulties, but we can take heart because we know that you have overcome 00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:08.519 the world. And so God, thank you for that promise. And Lord, I pray that if there's somebody here today 00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:14.559 that doesn't have that assurance, that they've placed their faith and their trust in you, 00:31:15.099 --> 00:31:20.159 that they've given their life to you, that they can have the hope that we're talking about today. 00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:24.119 Lord, I pray that you give them the boldness and courage to step forward and say, 00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:33.339 I want to follow Jesus. I want to give my life to him. I want to trust him and give it all over to 00:31:33.339 --> 00:31:40.519 him and experience the peace that comes from knowing that he's my Lord and Savior. So Lord, I pray that 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:46.119 there's somebody here today that doesn't know you as their Lord and Savior. You would give them the faith, 00:31:46.339 --> 00:31:52.959 give them the courage to step forward. But Lord, we also pray for each and every one of us. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:32:01.059 Because we've all experienced suffering. We've all experienced pain. We may not be experiencing it 00:32:01.059 --> 00:32:06.200 right now, but there's a good chance we have in the past and there's a certainty that we will in the 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:15.600 future. So Lord, give us the ability to remain faithful and steadfast in the midst of it, keeping our 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:24.480 eyes fixed on you. The source of our life, the source of our hope, the source of the peace in this life. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:31.819 And God, we thank you that this life, this earth is not our eternal home, but that you have a place 00:32:31.819 --> 00:32:38.439 prepared for us, that we will get to spend eternity with you. Thank you for that hope. 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:42.400 We ask all these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.