SCRIPTURE: James 5:7-11 (ESV)
DATE: 6-7-26
As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — whether you’re worshiping with us for the first time or joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you, too.
And — if you’re at our County Road 9 Campus and seeing me on video — either our flights back from our missions trip had some sort of delay — or — I’m never going to hear the end of me being too old and tired to preach while my wife, who was on the missions trip with me, is teaching the kids over in Kidway. So here’s to hoping that this pre-recorded video is just a backup.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend — learning from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. And — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and is showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives.
And — today — James has another practical topic for us: patience. That’s right. After everyone’s favorite topic for a pastor to preach on last week — money — we have another highly requested topic: patience. But let’s see what James has to say to us about the topic.
We’ll be in James chapter five today. James chapter five — looking at verses seven through eleven. We’re in James chapter five — beginning in verse seven. There we read…
James 5:7–11 ESV
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
As he nears the end of his letter, James brings up the topic of patience. And he does so by showing us an endurance that God’s people are to have, as well as an attitude we’re to display, before reminding us of some examples of patience from history. And together they reveal to us the reward for living a life of patience.
Let’s find these in our text.
A PATIENT ENDURANCE
We’ll begin with the endurance that God’s people are to have. We’re in verse seven.
James 5:7–8 ESV
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Be patient. Our first command. And it’s repeated — the command’s found in verses seven and eight. And the bottom line is this: God’s people are commanded to be patient. And being patient is a command that demands our obedience.
To be patient means to be long-suffering — it means to be even-tempered, even while enduring difficult situations and circumstances — even difficult people. And did you know that being patient is one aspect of being a loving person? We know this because…
1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV
4 Love is patient and kind…
This famous statement on love appears between two chapters in which Paul seeks to unite a divided church. The church was experiencing a difficult and divisive situation, so Paul tells them to love one another. And, in doing so, he defines what he means by love. And he tells them, and us, that loving each other is one way patience expresses itself in the church — especially when she finds herself in challenging times.
In other places we read…
1 Thessalonians 5:14 NLT
14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
Oh, how easy it is to be impatient with those who are lazy — even in the church! Warning them — that’s the easy part — but being patient with them — man, that’s hard.
- It’s the Life Group member who rarely comes prepared.
- It’s the volunteer who serves with you in Kidway who regularly shows up late.
- Or the people who ask to get by you during the closing worship songs because they want to beat the traffic.
Maybe laziness isn’t their issue, but the temptation to be impatient with them is still there — just as it is with those who are timid and whom you think need to be more courageous for Jesus. Be patient with them, we’re told. Be patient with everyone, Paul commands.
And we’re to be a patient people because — in being made in God’s image — we’re to reflect, or mirror, or imitate the patience he has with us. And what kind of patience does God have with us?
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Think about this: If God had not been patient with you, the day of your salvation would never have arrived. And, if you’re here today and you don’t believe in Jesus, know that you’re experiencing God’s patience. Which leads us to James’ reason for our patience.
Our Lord, who is not slow in fulfilling his promises, is returning soon. As James says, “The coming of the Lord is at hand.” The arrival of Jesus is near. His second advent, when he will be present here on earth — physically and spiritually — once again, is near.
After Jesus had told his disciples that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed…
Matthew 24:3–51 NLT
3 His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” 4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. 9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. 15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about — the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones. 23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. 26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. 29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world — from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. 32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. 36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. 37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. 42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. 45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus, in one of the longest and clearest descriptions of what it will be like to live in the end times, mentions wars and threats of wars, nations rising up against other nations, famines and earthquakes, arrests and the persecution of God’s people — he even says that some of his followers will be murdered because of their faith in him. And, with all of this heaviness, Jesus says, “Don’t be misled. Don’t panic. Instead, endure to the end. Which James summarizes as, “Establish your hearts.”
To establish means to strengthen. And what are we to strengthen? Our hearts. It means to have a firm determination to remain steadfast and faithful. Strengthening is something that Christians are to do to themselves and to other Christians. Like Peter, who Jesus said…
Luke 22:31–32 NLT
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
“Peter, don’t waste what you’re about to learn through failure. Instead, use it to strengthen others.”
Or take Paul, who…
Acts 18:22–23 ESV
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
Like Paul, we’re all called to strengthen other followers of Jesus in their faith. The way we say it around here is that we’re to be disciples who make disciples. And, as we strengthen and are strengthened by each other, we remember and are encouraged by promises, such as…
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
It’s not just that we strengthen each other; God uses his people to strengthen one another. With this in mind, Paul can write…
1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 NLT
11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
God has commanded us to love one another because, through our love for one another, our hearts are made strong. And Christians with strong hearts will endure until Christ returns.
Every generation of Christians has anticipated that Jesus would return in their lifetime. And, so far, every generation before us had to practice patience their entire lifetime — never seeing Jesus’ promise to return fulfilled. Our generation is no different. And it’s not just the eccentric Christians who rent billboard signs with their prediction about the date of Jesus’s return — most of us who follow Jesus have a desire for him to return in our lifetime.
Yet, even with this desire, fatigue can set in. Where our longing for Jesus’ return turns into doubt, wondering if he’ll ever return. God’s timing and ours are not the same. A thousand years are like a day to him — a day like a thousand years — which is why we must be patient like a farmer.
A farmer has no control over the weather. He or she can’t make it rain or stop raining. But like a farmer, who must trust in God to supply the rain that their crops need for a bountiful harvest, so we’re to trust that God will supply all that we need to endure whatever life may bring our way.
Like his promise that he will strengthen the hearts of his people so that we endure to the end — no matter what we face, no matter how hard our circumstances are — God’s promise will not fail. So we’re to remember his promises and endure patiently as we wait for him to fulfill them.
A PATIENT ATTITUDE
Though there’s much that’s out of our control, much that we’re to entrust to God, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing within our control, which leads us to the attitude God’s people are to display as we endure. Enduring patiently is just one command upon your life if you follow Jesus. We’re also commanded to have a specific attitude while we patiently endure. We’re in verse nine.
James 5:9 ESV
9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
Do not grumble — our second command. The attitude that we’re to have, which displays that we’re being patient as God has commanded us to be, is a no-grumbling attitude. One pastor has noted what James doesn’t say to highlight what he does say. The pastor noticed how James doesn’t say…
Don’t revenge yourself. Don’t punch them out. Don’t harm them.” That would be easier for us to say, “Well, I don’t do that,” because an awful lot of us don’t. A lot of us have enough self-control [to not do those things]. [But] that’s not what James does. He says, “Don’t grumble …” Need I say it? Yes, I guess I do need to say it. This is very easy to do, grumbling. Grumbling is just complaining. Grumbling is scorning. Grumbling is zinging people. Grumbling is griping. Grumbling is always finding fault. Grumbling is nitpicking. Grumbling is complaining all the time. James doesn’t say, “Well, you know what? Grumbling isn’t so bad, just try to avoid it.” He says, “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” Grumbling! You’ll be condemned for grumbling. You’ll be judged by the Judge of the universe for grumbling.
I wonder what would happen if we all considered what James is saying here about grumbling?
Now, this isn’t the first time James has brought up the words that come out of our mouths. And — as you’ve heard me say before — James wouldn’t have found it necessary to command the Christians receiving his letter not to grumble against one another if they weren’t grumbling. A no-grumbling command makes sense only if there was grumbling going on.
Obviously, the Christians he’s writing to had some serious relational issues with each other. And when we find ourselves living in difficult circumstances, it becomes all too easy to let relational issues be the reason we complain and grumble about one another. And James wants us to see how toxic, poisonous, and terrible grumbling about each other is. James warns us, “The Judge is going to judge you for this.”
In fact, the phrase “behold, the Judge is standing at the door” is meant to make us feel an urgency — again, that Christ’s return is near. And the phrase reminds us that, when Jesus returns, he will return as the Judge.
As Peter said to some Gentiles — or non-Jewish people — about Jesus…
Acts 10:40–43 NLT
40 God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear, 41 not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all — the living and the dead. 43 He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
Jesus is the judge of all — the judge of you and me.
Take what Paul wrote in his words to a young pastor — and to all pastors today…
2 Timothy 4:1–5 ESV
1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
In the last days, which we’re to patiently endure, people will want their ears tickled with ideas that they agree with, they’ll desire echo chambers of ideas that suit their passions, and they’ll desire these things so much that they’ll turn from the truth. And Paul, in stressing the importance of sound, biblical preaching, calls on Jesus — the one who will judge the living and the dead — as his witness as to what pastors are called to do.
Back to Peter. Here are his words explaining what it will be like to live in the end times.
1 Peter 4:1–5 NLT
1 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy — their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. 4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead.
The Judge stands at the door. What kind of attitude will you have when the door opens, and you see him face to face?
PATIENT EXAMPLES
Finally, James gives us some examples of patience. And these examples are meant to spur us on and encourage us in our patience. We’re in verse ten.
James 5:10–11 ESV
10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
As an example….take. This is our final command. What James means is, “Remember the examples of patience that have come before you — examples of the endurance and attitude that God expects all of his children to display.”
As an example, take…the prophets. As you may know, prophets were individuals called by God to speak on his behalf. And prophets were often persecuted and suffered for speaking on God’s behalf — yet they were told to keep speaking on his behalf — they were called to patiently endure.
Listen to what one pastor had to say about the prophets. He said…
The persecution endured by Israel’s prophets is a sad litany of rejection and abuse. Moses had to put up with the stiff-necked, rebellious Israelites who left Egypt. Elijah faced hostility from the evil king Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. Jeremiah endured opposition throughout his ministry, bringing him such sorrow that he became known as the weeping prophet. Ezekiel endured the death of his wife during the course of his ministry. Daniel was torn from his homeland as a young boy and later thrown into a den of lions because of his faithfulness to God. Hosea endured a heartbreaking marriage, Amos faced lies and scorn, and John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded for his testimony to God’s truth. The patience under trials exhibited by those faithful prophets should provide encouragement for believers to run the Christian race with diligence and faithfulness, no matter how severe the persecution.
As an example, take the prophets. Also…take Job. Job, though an imperfect man, put his hope in God when his life was immeasurably hard. He lost everything — all of his wealth, his health, and his children — the only thing he didn’t lose was his nagging wife and some misguided friends! And after a period of exhausting suffering, what Job learned — and what we’re to learn through his story — is that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
CONCLUSION: THE REWARD FOR LIVING A LIFE OF PATIENCE
Which leads us to the reward for living a life of patience. It’s found in verse eleven. I’ll read it again.
James 5:11 ESV
11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
The reward given to those who live a life of patience is the experience of the compassion and mercy of their God. Yes, all who believe in Jesus experience God’s compassion and mercy — even those who live all their days impatiently. But, for those who are patient, they will experience God’s compassion and mercy in a way that the impatient Christian won’t.
- Like Job, who, in having passed the test, tasted a sweetness to God’s compassion and mercy that he wouldn’t have tasted had there been no test of his patience.
- Like the prophets who, in having passed the test, experienced God’s power and promises fulfilled in their lives — power and fulfilled promises they wouldn’t have experienced had there been no test of their patience.
- So to you, by patiently enduring challenging circumstances and difficult people — and by displaying the attitude of patience which we’ve seen in our text — as you follow the examples of patience that have come before you — so too will you experience God’s compassion and mercy towards you.
And with this as the goal set before us, I can’t think of any better words than Paul’s with which to conclude this sermon, when he writes…
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT
23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
Until Jesus comes again, may you patiently endure. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavely Father, what patience you have with each of us. If we’re honest, right now, the patience we’ve received from you far exceeds whatever patience you’ve asked us to give to others. May we, when we find ourselves growing impatient, remember your patience with us.
Holy Spirit, until the day Jesus returns, help us to strengthen our hearts so that we endure with patience. Strengthen our hearts so that we love you and one another more purely. Strengthen our hearts so that others might wonder why we’re so different than the impatient world they’re so used to.
And, Jesus, we ask this in prayer because our desire is that our lives would make you look beautiful and awesome to those who don’t believe. May those who challenge us the most — those who are the most difficult in our lives — experience your love through us. And we pray this, trusting that you will give us all that we need to love them with a love that is patient and kind. We ask all of this in your name. Amen.