“BE PATIENT WITH EACH OTHER!”

James 5:7-11 Part 3

INTRODUCTION The story is told of a certain monk who was very impatient. He was ahead of the game because he realized his deficiency and asked God to cure it. Well, according to the story, God told the monk to live alone in a house in the woods for seven years, at the end of which, God would give him the secret of the patience he sought. The monk moved to the house in the woods. He did just that, not seeing another human being for 6 years and 365 days. On the last day of the 7^th year, a traveler appeared. He approached the monk's door and asked, "What are you doing here?" The monk responded, "I came to this place at God's direction to learn patience. I have been here for seven years and you are the first person I have seen in all that time." The traveler then responded, "But how can you learn patience apart from people?" The monk had his lesson. We cannot learn patience apart from people. Those people who try our patience most are often the most valuable teachers we have. Perhaps some of you feel this morning that you would be a patient person if it wasn’t for people. One person put it like this, “To live above with the saints we love, that will be grace and glory! But to live below with the saints we know that’s another story!" Stanley Jones once observed that the people in the world, who rub against us like sandpaper, are placed there, by God, to "knock the rough edges off of us." God is teaching us patience, and he uses people in our lives to do it. James has been commanding us to be patient (verses 7+8). The word James uses makrothumos means we are to be long-suffering, to have a prolonged restraint of anger or irritation. Three things are particularly impressive about this quality of patience. First, it is an attribute of God Himself, and how He is towards you. He is slow to anger (Numbers 14:18; Psalm 86:5; 103:8) Secondly, being an attribute of God, it is divine love's first response. I Corinthians 13:4, "Love is patient" or "love suffers long." Thirdly, patience a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22), it is the character quality of God that He wants reproduced in your life by the indwelling Holy Spirit working within your soul. God desires for divine supernatural patience first to master your personality. In short, God wants to work His patience inside of you in a way that master’s who you are as a person. Second, God wants to minister His patience through you. He wants the inflow of His patience to master your personality in order for His patience to be the out-flowing ministry of your personality. Patience quite simply, means being prepared in faith to wait upon the Lord. Waiting on the Lord means that you believe that God is in control, is purposeful, wise, and is up to something good and loving in your life. Therefore, waiting on the Lord is firstly, a willingness to wait for God where He has you by obediently submitting to Him in the place that He has sovereignly placed us: circumstances, relationships, environment, etc. Secondly, waiting on the Lord, means you are willing to patiently endure by following Him at the pace that He is working in your life—to wait in his place, or to go at his pace. In the light of this, James commanded us in verse 8 to strengthen our hearts for patience that is by faith to tap into the sovereign promises and power of a loving God who is able to take every delay, trials, irritation, difficulty, interruption, and detour and turn them into something magnificent for His glory and our joy. When tough, difficult, or unfair times come God is loving us in the best way imaginable so we must have patience. But James says there is a second area in life where we need to practice patience...We must be patient in our relationships with EACH OTHER.

I. DO NOT GRUMBLE (verse 9a) This is James fourth command which is a “do not” negative command. Where the other three commands were in the aorist tense, do it now; this fourth command is in the indicative imperative, which means stop doing NOW what you have been doing, being impatient towards each other. The word translated grumble (stenazete) is also translated complaining. The root stenos, where we get our word stenographer, means narrow or tight. It’s the picture of a person who allows circumstances or people to narrow in on him. He loses the broad perspective of God and His loving purposes, and sees only the problem or perceived problem, as a result the outward focus causes him inside to shrink and thus "groan or complain” and have his attitude begin to degenerate. This groaning James says is not just about life but against one another. The preposition “against” kata can also be translated “down”. James is saying “stop getting down on others!” When our lives encounter trials and stress, we often get impatient with those closest to us. We grumble and complain. We get restless and intolerant.

Why does this happen? First, and most importantly, when we forget the cross of Christ. Because of sin, relational conflict is inevitable. Others sin against us, we sin against others. When we become bitter, merciless, and unforgiving towards others, we assume that their sins toward us are more serious than our innumerable sins that we have committed against God. We forget how much God has forgiven us, graced us, and is long-suffering towards us so we find it difficult to forgive, show grace, and be patient. Secondly, when we have a misguided and self-centered notion of others. They expect more out of sinners being sanctified than they can fulfill. Like the spouse that expects their spouse to meet all of their needs, some Christians have unreasonable expectations upon other Christians. For example, they may expect someone to conform to their will, desires, and agenda or they may expect someone to live up to some non-biblical standard or they expect perfection from others. They can be frustrated because others are not growing as fast as they’d like them to. Thirdly, Christians may grumble because as some people grow in the body in righteousness, there are others who grow in self righteousness. Instead of accountability and discipline we can allow complaints, attacks, criticism, bad attitudes, judgmentalism, and lack of grace and mercy to go unchecked within the church until the beautiful orchard becomes an overgrown jungle. Fourthly, Christians can take out their frustrations on other Christians when they use the church as a scapegoat for their own disobedience and spiritual apathy. They are impatient with their own growth and blame the church. Oh how we can be so terribly unforgiving on the one hand and so terribly demanding on the other with those who are nearest and dearest to us, those in our own family and others with whom we are in close fellowship. The devil loves to wreck a relationship that is likely to bring glory to God. He will do anything he can to disrupt unity, exploit weakness, and create conflict in the body of Christ. Divide and conquer' is a well-known military tactic, it is one Satan uses with repeated success. One of the greatest things Satan can do to forward his purposes is to cause division among Christians, to make them complain, murmur, fight, bicker and grumble: against each other. That is why the negative "one another’s" in the bible remind us of our need to be alert and protect each other. There are some things we need to avoid in our relationships so that the enemy does not gain a stronghold. -Stop passing judgment on one another (Rom. 14:13) -do not slander one another (James 4:11) -refrain from "biting and devouring each other" (Gal. 5:15) -stop "provoking each other" (Gal. 5:26) -stop "envying each other" (Gal. 5:26) -do not lie to each other (Col. 3:9). Grudging against one another is the opposite of patience and certainly does not represent an attitude that is contentedly waiting for the Lord. Waiting on the Lord in regards to people is submitting to the place God has us in regards to people and relationships that God has sovereignly ordained in my life. It is also adapting the pace that God is working in the people that He has placed sovereignly in my life.

II. FOCUS ON JESUS (verse 8b) James says, “The Judge is standing at the door”. James offers a simple incentive for being patient towards others. If we grumble against each other we will be judged. The perfect indicative active literally means the judge’s presence is imminent. His foot is at the doorstep; his hand is on the doorknob. Here is the idea: You have a problem with someone and you are unforgiving, judgmental, critical, hateful, bitter, resentful, etc. In short, you are failing to walk in patience towards your brother…and suddenly you are raptured or dead and brought to the judgment seat of Christ. You are face to face with the merciful, forgiving, long suffering Jesus Christ. He looks at you and knows your last thought on earth. How would you feel? But in truth, the judge knows your thoughts at this very moment as we live every moment in His presence. They are as plain to Him as day. When we are impatient with others the Judge of all men may call us to account at any moment. This should radically sober us up in regards to finding fault with others. That is why right now counts forever. These are times for patient waiting on God towards others. It is interesting that here again James uses the word “brothers”. It is used in this section of James more often here than any other section of James. James is saying, these ones you are losing patience with, they are your brothers and sisters in Christ; God chose them you didn’t; God has lovingly and sovereignly planted them in your life for His glory and your growth, you will spend eternity with them. For Christ’s sake, start getting along with them now. Instead of having a bad attitude about the people that God has placed around you, ask God to give you patience. There is another sense in that the judge is at the door right now to invade your circumstances that He has ordained with judgment towards that person and vindication, perspective, help, grace, strength, power, to aid or deliver you. Remember we learned last week, God is up to something good in your life-through people, difficult people! He has blessed you with this trial, this person, to help you to grow to be like Jesus, but even more so, to see and savor Jesus above all things. God is working to bring about something so good that you cannot imagine it. So, we must be patient with other people. And if that is ever hard for you to do, remember that God has been-and continues to be patient with you. Psalm 103:8 says, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, SLOW to anger, abounding in love." Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” This is why Jesus has given us His Spirit to live within us. The Spirit empowers us to live like Jesus! Let that fact motivate you to obey Ephesians 4:2-3 which says, we must "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, forbearing one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" and Colossians 3:12-13, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you”. I am so glad Paul said we must endure one another. This frees me from the hypocritical need to think I or anyone else in the church is perfect. Perfect people don't need to be endured or forgiven. But we do, often. Paul is not naive. He knows that there are a few people at Lighthouse who are grumpy or critical or unreliable or finicky. He knows the pastor has gaping holes in the fabric of his sanctification. So his counsel here is not how perfect people can live together in unity, but how real, imperfect people can maintain the unity of the Spirit, namely, by enduring each other in love.

III. HOW CAN WE PRACTICE PATIENCE TOWARDS EACH OTHER?

1. Instead of looking for something wrong in others, start looking for evidences of God’s grace working in others. This means actively looking for ways that God is at work in the lives of others. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-- even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you--so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Paul recognized evidences of God’s grace working among the Corinthians who needed adjustment, and he therefore continually thanks God for them. Paul in his humility saw the Corinthians from a divine perspective, and he allowed this perspective to determine his attitude towards them. First, Paul saw them as “called by God”. In using it, Paul is especially acknowledging and affirming God's sovereign grace and reminding us of His prior activity: We were acted upon by God before we ever responded to Him. We were called. God's prior activity has brought us to where we are today. The same is true of every believer we encounter. We must remind ourselves; this individual has been previously acted upon by God. He first loved us! Second, God is presently at work in our brother. Paul say in Philippians 2:13 that God is actively working in us to both will and work for His good pleasure. Third, Paul was confident for their future in the faithfulness of God’s future grace working in them: “Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful”. Paul’s confidence for the weak, immature, failing Corinthians was anchored in the faithfulness of God. “I am sure that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6). Oh how we need to catch sight of the work of God who by His grace worked, is working, and will work in your brother’s life. The divine perspective makes possible the deepest affection for others, as well as effective service and ministry of extending God’s grace in your attitudes, words, and ministry activities to them. Last week I mentioned Charles Simeon. He had many trials in his life. The most fundamental trial that Simeon had –and that we all have – was himself. He had a somewhat harsh and self-assertive air about him. One day, early in Simeon's ministry, he was visiting Henry Venn, who was pastor 12 miles from Cambridge at Yelling. When he left to go home Venn's daughters complained to their father about his manner. Venn took the girls to the back yard and said, "Pick me one of those peaches." But it was early summer, and "the time of peaches was not yet." They asked why he would want the green, unripe fruit. Venn replied, "Well, my dears, it is green now, and we must wait; but a little more sun, and a few more showers, and the peach will be ripe and sweet. So it is with Mr. Simeon."

2. I want to challenge us not only to look for evidence of grace but to also practice what R.C. Sproul calls The Judgment of Charity. It is the evaluation of others tempered with love. It is simply a judgment of love. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7). It’s where in grace, mercy, and love we begin to make allowances for the weaknesses and ignorance of others and takes the kindest perspective towards them whenever possible because God is that way to you. The Christian loves to make allowances for the weaknesses of others, knowing how great need he stands in constantly having made allowance made for himself by both God and man. Oh Christian your relationships with others and your patience, faithfulness, obedience, and effectiveness is directly tied to the cross. We are saved by the grace of the cross of Christ, we live by the grace from the cross of Christ, and we therefore, must give to others the grace that comes from the cross of Christ. This means, God has forgiven me, so I can forgive others. God has been patient with me, so I can be patient with others. God’s grace is changing me, so I can trust that He will change others. God has been lovingly patient with me, so I can be more patient with my brothers and sister. We're all struggling with life's problems. And isn't that what we all want from others? This is the rule Jesus gave us: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Do unto others as Christ has done to us! Every one of us needs and longs for the patience of others. Probably all of us should have a big sign hanging around our neck that reads, “Be patient with me; God’s not finished with me yet.” C.H. Spurgeon said, "If you are tempted to lose patience with your fellowmen, stop and think how patient God has been with you."