Humble, Patient, Enduring - James 5:1-12

[Music] we begin now in James chapter five and one of the things we notice is the very dramatic beginning to this chapter let me read you the first three verses come now you rich weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you your riches are corrupted your garments are moth-eaten your gold and silver are corroded and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire you have heaped up treasure in the last days and we read those first three verses of James chapter 5 and we just sort of go back a little bit go WOW well where did this come from what what's the context for this what when did James start talking about the rich and all of that well again we remind ourselves that the tone and the structure of James's letter to the early Christians and to us because he speaks by the inspiration the Holy Spirit to us here today that the tone and the structure of this letter is very much like the Old Testament book of Proverbs James is stringing together pearls of practical wisdom and an explanation of what it means to have a living faith not a dead faith but a living faith and so he's speaking very much to practical action and attitude in the Christian life now where does he come up with this idea of confronting the oppressive rich what he does it I think probably because we're we lift off in James chapter 4 he was really stressing the idea of humility before God and let's face it sometimes those who have a lot of material things in this world wealthy people the rich if you want to call it that although I don't know if I've ever met anybody who considers themself rich even though by the standards by which we live today every one of us is rich compared to anybody in the ancient world but putting all that aside when we think about this in the present world today we understand that people who have a lot of material resources those who we might consider to be rich it's easy for them to have a greater problem with humility and so maybe that's where James connects one pearl to another pearl on this necklace of beautiful wisdom that he gives us from the Holy Spirit of God in a regard we can understand these words clear enough look now again at verse 1 he says come now you rich weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you why well he explains more in verse 2 because your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten now verse 3 your gold and silver are corroded and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire you have heaped up treasure in the last days so again after developing the idea of a complete dependence upon God a humble dependence on God now he's confronting those who perhaps might have the most intense temptation to live independently from God the rich the wealthy now let's remind ourselves to something it's not a sin to be rich Jesus counted some rich persons among his followers Zacchaeus was a rich man but he was a father of Jesus Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man but he was a father of Jesus Barnabas in the book of Acts was a rich man but he was a follower of Jesus so we understand the riches do not mean that a person cannot be a believer or a true follower of Jesus but we also recognize this that wealth in this world presents an obstacle a hindrance to the kingdom of God isn't that what Jesus explained in Matthew chapter 19 isn't that what Jesus was playing when he had that encounter with the rich young ruler that man who apparently was so given over to the focus upon and the the love of riches that Jesus demanded of that particular man that he sell everything and give it to the poor and then go follow Jesus you see we know that having a lot in this world can make our hearts wedid maybe even welded to this world and so it's true that riches and wealth are a obstacle to the kingdom now we thank the Lord that it is an to call that under the work of the Spirit of God can be overcome but it is an obstacle nevertheless now it's also true according to first Timothy chapter 6 verse 10 that the pursuit of riches is a motivation for every conceivable sin that that's what Paul meant when he wrote in first Timothy 6:10 that money is the root of all kinds of evil in other words there is not a single sin that you can think of that somebody will not commit for the sake of money and wealth and so the simple idea here is here is a challenge for believers who have a lot in this present world but but I do like what Matthew Poole the old Puritan commentator said on this point he said this quote he speaks to them not simply as rich for riches and grace sometimes may go together but as wicked not only wallowing in wealth but abusing it - pride luxury oppression and cruelty I think that's a good word from Matthew pool so what does he say to those peoples whose heart is welded to this world because of their riches he tells him look at there in verse 1 weep and how I love this it's very much the style of an Old Testament prophet James is telling the rich to mourn in consideration of their destiny did you see the destiny there the destiny is again he says for your miseries that are coming upon you in verse 1 your riches are corrupted your garments are moth-eaten your gold and silver are corroded now I can just imagine somebody who first heard James or heard this letter read in a church some wealthy man in an early Christian congregation he thinks to himself my riches are corroded my garments are not moth-eaten my gold and silver are not gone they're not corrupted what's going on with this what are you saying that these things already James is speaking of the certainty of coming judgment upon the wicked wealthy and it's as if that judgment has already by the way it's kind of interesting here in verse two James is probably referring to the destruction of three kinds of wealth stores of food are corrupted or rotted think of mold infesting you know piles of grain secondly garments are moth eaten and no good anymore and then thirdly gold and silver are corroded each one of them comes to nothing in their own way and so James says consider that if god's judgment is to come upon these things then consider how you need to get your heart right with him right now I mean think about it when he says in first one weep and how is it a good thing or a bad thing for somebody to weep and howl over coming judgment well listen it's a good thing if somebody weeps and how's overcoming judgment now so that they can prepare their hearts for that judgment to come again let me quote see another Puritan commentator John Trapp he says this better to weep here where there are wiping handkerchiefs in the hand of Christ then to have your eyes whipped out in hell better how with men now then yell with devils later well you gotta admit John trap that's a certain expressive way of speaking better to how with men now then to yell with Devils later absolutely it is sorrow over our sin sorrow and concern overcoming judgment right now is a good thing and if we fail to do this if we fail to respond properly look what it says in verse 3 it says there that these things will be a witness against you you see the corruptible perishing nature of wealth is a witness against us on the day of judgment it will be revealed if whether or not we have lived our lives in an arrogant independence that's what James is condemning those who heap up treasure in the last days when instead what should we be doing we should be heaping up treasure in heaven don't miss that phrase at the end of verse three he's condemning those who reap excuse me who heap up treasure in the last days no if there's any heaping up for us to be no we should be heaping up treasure in heaven by having generous hearts listen this is God's antidote to the selfish rich its generosity of heart to give away things to be those who store up treasure in heaven by wise and generous investment in the kingdom work of God now he's going to continue on his very strong words continuing on in verse four so let me read verses four five and six here we go indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields which you kept back by fraud cry out and the cries of the Reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth you have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury you have fatten your hearts in a day of slaughter you have condemned you have murdered the just he does not resist you well again James very much speaking in the style of an Old Testament prophet here he's envisioning the outcry of those who have been victimized by this unjust rich person that he spoke to in verses 1 2 and 3 and what is it what's the cry that goes out against him we'll look here at verse 4 the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields which you kept back by fraud cry out you see one of the problems with these rich people that James condemns in verses 1 2 and 3 and continues to speak about in verses 4 and following one of their sins was that they lived indulgently without regard to others do you remember the story that Jesus told in Luke chapter 16 about the rich man and Lazarus now I call it a story the sort of against popular or maybe I say majority opinion I regard that as not a parable but a story that Jesus actually recounts about a rich man who had everything and lived very indulgently and then a poor man named Lazarus who begged at his gate and the poor man died and went to eternal bliss in the world to come the rich man went to a place of torment and suffering why well for probably several reasons but one of them among them was that he was absolutely indifferent to the plight to the suffering of the poor man right outside his gate now for those people who condemn and murder from a position of power God has judgment for them why because again look at verse 4 the cries of the Reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth that the idea here is that God hears the cry of the poor when they cry out against the oppression of the rich when the rich oppress the poor and the poor cry out to God God hears now listen I know sometimes we think well then why doesn't God respond why is it still that the rich can continue on in impression of the poor well I'll tell you we just have to understand and accept that there are some things that will not be settled until God settles them in eternity that's just the fact we can protest again oh it's not fair we wish it was different listen maybe we do wish it was different but that's the fact that that there are things that will not make sense in this world until they are settled in the light of eternity now we don't say that to say that we should not have a concern for setting right whatever we can set right in this earth no of course we don't shut down the Courts of Justice saying well God we'll settle it in the end know what we endeavour to do whatever we can right now to accomplish justice and to express God's will in that way in the here and now but we understand that that man's systems of justice that man's structures and in the society it is ultimately not going to settle everything we have to wait until God perfectly and finally settles everything in the age to come and who's gonna do it notice again verse 4 the cries of the Reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth I want you to look carefully at the phrasing of verse 4 he uses a title their Lord of Sabaoth most every time when I've read the Bible I automatically think that the title there that's being used is Lord of the Sabbath that's a title that's used for God in mark chapter 2 verse 28 in Luke chapter 6 verse 5 it's not the Lord of the Sabbath no this is the Lord of Sabaoth the translation of this is a translation of the idea behind the word or the phrase in Hebrew Lord of Hosts you can find comparable phrases in Romans chapter 9 verse 29 in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 9 it's a expression of the Old Testament idea Lord of Hosts and do you know what Lord of Hosts mean when we hear that phrase sometimes we think of someone who is a host for guests coming over their house and we think Lord of hosts well he's the Lord of those who receive guests well isn't that the idea of it all the Old Testament phrase Lord of Hosts refers to the lord of armies the god who commands especially angelic armies he is the commander-in-chief of angelic armies it's a military term and the idea here is that god is a warrior he is as I said before the commander-in-chief of heavenly armies that's the God that you are offending that's the God that you are storing up judgment in the account of when you when you oppress the poor in this way that's meant to be a sobering idea see cries of the people that they had oppressed it comes to the ears of the God who commands heavenly armies the god of all might and power and judgment again it's meant to be a wake-up call and that's why he says the thing is so serious that he says here in verse 6 you have condemned you've murdered the just he does not resist you now again as I said before often those who are poor and without power in this world have little satisfaction from human institutions of justice nevertheless God hears their cries and God is the one who guarantees that he will ultimately right every wrong and he will answer every injustice this is the promise of God now when he says you have condemned you have murdered the just we we understand that again in the style of the Old Testament prophets which these six verses that begin James chapter five are very much written in that style in the style of the Old Testament prophets he's speaking with some poetic exaggeration now there is no doubt that it is sometimes literally true that the oppression of the powerful the oppression of the rich / the poor sometimes does lead to murder but but it doesn't have to lead to murder to be noticed by God and ultimately condemned by God so again this is a heavy phrase a heavy idea God will set these things right now in light of the fact that God will set these things right those of us who do have resources those of us who do have some measure of wealth in this world we need to be very careful that we do not use it to oppress other people that we use it to do good in this world that we use it generously and most importantly that we do not allow our hearts to be wedded or welded to the things of this world but we keep a light touch and I'm not saying it's the only way but one of the important ways that we keep a light touch on the things of this world is by having hearts of generosity towards God and the work of his kingdom now starting in verse 7 he's going to give a call for patient endurance in light of the coming judgement in other words into the verse 6 verses he's introduced the idea that judgment is coming there's no doubt about that so in light of that what kind of attitude should we have especially those of us who may be on the scale of being poor or we don't have all the power that other people have how should we be look at verses 7 and 8 it'll introduce this idea he says therefore be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain you also be patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand you see James brings forth the idea in the previous verses of the ultimate judgment to come now he's calling Christians especially those Christians who are enduring hardship he tells them to patiently endure until the coming of the Lord I gotta say I find it fascinating that James is not trying to incite a class war he doesn't say hey you've been oppressed by the rich hey hey you you're out of power then have a class war fight after those things you know despise the rich and go get them no he advises us to have a patient endurance for the ultimate justice of God now again I want to stress this doesn't mean that we do away with our attempts to do the best we can on a human level with justice no we do what we can but again we do it all with the ultimate realization that there is only going to be ultimate and perfect judgment in the reckoning that God will bring in the age to come until then we've got to be patient again I'm not saying a patient's that has a complete inactivity that gives up on trying to work towards what's right and good in the present age but ultimately we have to have the patients that James speaks about in verse seven look at where he says see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth waiting patiently you see the farmer doesn't give up when the crop doesn't come right away he keeps working you imagine a farmer he plants wheat out in the field he comes back the next day or let's say two days later this wears the weight hasn't come up yet well I'm gonna dig all this up I guess it's not working for the farmer doesn't do that the farmer says look if I want a harvest I have to wait patiently until the crop grows and that farmer keeps on working even when the crop can't be seen even so Christians must work hard and exercise patient endurance even when the harvest day seems far away but we need to wait upon God and not lose heart along the way see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth waiting patiently I want you to understand and appreciate how many victories are won by patience and persistence there's a lot in this world accomplished by patience and persistence sometimes evil things are accomplished in this world just because the people who are propagating those evil things have the patience to keep working on them over many many years no a lot is done sometimes for good sometimes for evil through patience through persistence and we need to have patience and persistence especially as believers in light of who God is like what Charles Spurgeon said about this he said this quote I never reckoned that I was to slay my enemy at the first blow I never imagined that I was to capture the city as soon as I had ever digged the first trench I reckoned waiting and now that has come I find that God gives me the grace to fight on and to wrestle on till the victory shall come and patience saves a man from a great deal of haste and foolishness akin what a great quote from Charles Spurgeon and when we think about it the attitude that we should have in this world the attitude of endurance that we should have as believers it's very much like the waiting that a farmer needs to do I mean think about it that the the farmer waits a long time for the crop to come doesn't he now he waits with a reasonable hope an expectation of reward that the farmer is not crazy he's not just throwing rocks into the ground in figuring that wheat is gonna grow from it know he has a reasonable hope a reasonable expectation of reward and while he waits the farmer works you better believe he works he's watering he's weeding hes fertilizing he's caring and he waits while he depends on things that are out of his power I mean he looks to the heavens he looks to the heavens to see what the weather's gonna be like because again he waits expectantly waiting on things that are out of his control that farmer has to wait despite changing circumstances despite many uncertainties but he waits because he's encouraged knowing the harvest that comes forth it's gonna be valuable I'll tell you another reason why the farmer waits he has no other option it's not within his power to do it any quicker and so why does he wait because he has to he waits because it'll do him no good to give up and he waits because as time goes on it becomes more important for him to wait and not less important listen in all these give us reasons for us to wait and describe for us the kind of way that we should wait for God's resolution of all things now I'm gonna say it probably for the fourth or fifth time during the study because I want it to be clear we're not that we don't care about advancing things with human institutions of justice and righteousness in this present world no we do but we do it without having an ultimate hope that any of those things are going to be perfected this perfect justice is going to happen in the age to come matter of fact the waiting should happen verse seven until the earth receives the early and the latter rain you see James intends that literally he's referring to the early rains that come and water the area that we would call Israel today the early rains and the latter rains that come in April or May all of those things are essential for the crops to grow there's no allegorical picture here of an early and latter outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church now look I do believe that the Bible teaches that there will be a significant outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days but that's not what James is talking about here no not at all no again verse eight he's saying that we says the farmer waits for the early and latter rains we should in verse 8 establish our hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand listen Jesus is coming soon we have the expectation of reward and fulfilled justice so we can establish our hearts in hope of the return of the Lord I want you to see something that's fascinating to me that this letter of James being written early in the in the calendar of when letters were written when the New Testament books it had the expectation of the return of Jesus and I don't think James was wrong to have that expectation some people look back on this expectation of Jesus's return that James reflects here and that Paul reflects in many of his letters and that Jesus told us to have in the Gospels and they say see they were all wrong because James said the coming of the Lord was at hand that means like as close as your hand James said the coming of the Lord and and apparently it wasn't at hand because Jesus hasn't returned for 2,000 years no I'm gonna disagree with you there James knew Paul knew and especially Jesus knew and told us that every generation of Christians should live with the expectation of the return of Jesus Christ this is a good thing and not a bad thing we live with the expectation that Jesus is coming soon and that he will bring the reward that we have patiently waited for with him that's why he says the coming of the Lord is at hand now on to verse 9 verse 9 is interesting to me you know he's been talking about this patient endurance that we should have sometimes in light of evident injustice that we see around us James also adds here verse 9 do not grumble against one another brethren lest you be condemned behold the judge is standing at the door what's the connection here again I think it's just simply this when we experience times of hardship times of at least perceived injustice that can make us less than loving with our Christian brothers and sisters so James tells us listen even when you're going through hardship even when you feel like you're experiencing injustice don't become a grumbler or a complainer why well because you don't want to be condemned with the judge standing at the door Jesus is coming and one of the offices Jesus will return in is the office of Judge Jesus is gonna come not only to judge the world that's true but don't forget what 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 tells us that Jesus will also come to judge the faithfulness of Christians and if our lives have been filled with grumbling and complaining don't you think Jesus will have every right to come back to us and essentially say why didn't you trust me you could have trusted me in that situation and you didn't why didn't you trust me why didn't you believe me that I could and would work even in this difficult situation now verses 10 and 11 again continuing on in the theme of patient endurance even in light of hardship he says this my brethren take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience indeed we count them blessed who endure you have heard of the perseverance of job and seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful so sometimes we need examples to kind of show us number one that other people have endured hardship and so God working in our life we can as well but but then also examples just so we can know it maybe follow something from their example so he says there in verse 10 take the prophets as an example of suffering and patience James reminds us that the Old Testament prophets endured hardship yet they practiced patient endurance and again we can take them as Jim says as an example you know one example that you can think of among these Old Testament prophets how about Jeremiah he was put in the stocks something torture is seen in Jeremiah chapter 20 he was thrown into prison in Jeremiah chapter 32 he was lowered into a miry dungeon in Jeremiah chapter 28 yet he persisted in his faithfulness and his work before God we God helping us can follow his example but Jeremiah's not the only one there's another one that James mentions in verse 11 and I find James chapter 5 verse 11 fascinating because it is the only New Testament mention of a great Old Testament figure this man job he's not mentioned anywhere else in the old test in the New Testament I should say look at what he says here in verse 11 he says you have heard of the perseverance of job and seen the end intended by the Lord that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful see James essentially tells us three things about job and how those things can be a significant example for Christians in times of suffering and hardship here's three things about job that he tells us number one we see the perseverance of job well job did show tremendous perseverance didn't he I mean job lost everything under attack from Satan and even though he lost everything he did not curse God he did not deny God he refused to turn his back on God despite his severe and may I say his mysterious suffering because job didn't know why this suffering came upon him only we know when we read the book of Job because we see behind the scenes what God was doing but we also see in the book of Job not only the perseverance of job but we also see this is given verse 11 'they end intended by the Lord what does he mean by the end intended by the Lord he's speaking of the ultimate goal and purpose of God in allowing this suffering to come upon job you know the greatest purpose or end intended by the Lord in the suffering of job was that he would be a lesson to angelic beings that's in a sense what the whole book of Job is about God said I'm gonna use this man job and I'm gonna use him in his life in his responses to what I allowed to come into his life I'm gonna use this man to teach angelic beings I want you to think about something in Ephesians chapter 3 verses 10 and 11 God says that he is using the church his people today you and me he's using us to also teach angelic beings and when we understand that God has a good purpose in these things and even painful things are put into a proper perspective I like an example that Charles Spurgeon used on this point he said what are the minute what am I going to think if a man comes to me with a knife spirit I said well it depends it depends on the circumstances if it's some thief or murderous attacker I'm gonna fear when that man comes to me with a knife but if it's a surgeon whose purpose is to do good in my life then when the surgeon comes to me with a knife I know his purpose is good and I'm okay with it in the same way when we see God allowing hardship in our life directing it towards his eternal purpose when we see the end intended by the Lord we could say okay Lord it's a little bit scary that you're allowing this but I know that the purpose is good and I don't need to fear it so again what's the three things he shows us first level first the perseverance of job secondly the end or the purpose intended by the Lord and then finally that the Lord this is number three that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful and I'm gonna be straight with you this is not immediately apparent in the story of Job we can quickly think that God was cruel to job treating job as if he was something like a laboratory rat I'm gonna make him run around in my maze so that I can test him and and and and trouble him but for my greater purposes no when we take a look at the book of Job and the whole story of Job in greater perspective we see that it is indeed true that the Lord was very compassionate and merciful upon job and let me give you just at least four reasons I could give you more but let me give you four reasons why job demonstrates that God was very compassionate and merciful number one God was very compassionate and merciful to job because he only allowed the suffering - job for a very good reason brother and sisters if God allows hardship in your life it's for a good reason God is not gonna do it for a frivolous or irrelevant reason no it's gonna be a good reason even if you can't see that good reason God has one second God was very compassionate and merciful to job because he restricted what Satan could do against job no I'm not gonna get into the details but what Satan did against job was terrible job lost so much when God gave permission to Satan to stretch out his hand against jo-jo bla so much but I want you understand something as bad as what Jobe suffered Satan wanted to do more and God put a restriction brother and sisters on once you understand God sets a limit to what the devil can do against you and as tough as it might seem right now if you feel like you're under fear some spiritual attack I want you understand that the devil wishes he could do worse against you but God has said no stop you can do no further than this against my child here's the third reason God was very compassionate and merciful to job because God sustained job with his unseen hand throughout all of jobs suffering what do I mean by that we'll listen I know I'm I'm taking part of this by implication but but you can't read the book of Job without understanding even though you're not gonna read these exact words in the book of Job but it's in a sense written between every line almost of the book of Job that God sustained job with his strength with his invisible hand throughout job suffering there is no way that job could have endured and made it through the end of what happened there's no way that job could have done it if God did not sustain him it's almost as if God challenged Satan along these lines he said ok Satan listen you you do your worst against job and I'm gonna do my best in him and you know what one out not the worst that Satan wanted to do against him but the best that God ordained and then finally I'll say this that God was very compassionate and merciful to job because in the end God you used Satan himself what what do I mean by that well at the end of it all job was a better and a more blessed man and God used the attacks of Satan to bring greater blessing and greater godliness into job's life I mean think about it at the beginning of the book of Job job's a blessed man and he is a good man at the end of the book of Job he's more blessed and he's a better man and God used the attacks that Satan intended to destroy job God used them and this was a demonstration of the compassion and the mercy of God no brothers and sisters we can understand these three things that in the story of job it shows us the perseverance of job it shows us the end or the purpose intended by the Lord and also it shows us that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful now we're gonna conclude our time here together with this particular study with a look at verse 12 he says here but above all my brethren do not swear either by heaven or by earth with any other earth but let your yes be yes and your no no lest you fall into judgment again this is one of those verses where we can say it sure shows that James knew the Sermon on the Mount because this repeats themes that Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount especially in Matthew chapter 5 verses 34 through 37 about not swearing about letting your yes be yes and your no be no now in James's day many Jewish people made distinctions between what they called a binding oath in a non binding oath and what was the difference between a binding oath and a non binding oath here was the difference a binding oath included the name of God in the a non binding oath did not include the name of God and when you made a non-binding oath it was a way you know this is something that we'd speak about in American culture of making a promise with your fingers crossed behind your back I don't know if that's even relevant to other cultures but in America when I was a kid if you made a promise to somebody with your fingers crossed behind your back it was a way of saying I'm saying something but I'm giving myself permission to lie in the Jewish culture of James's day there was a way to make an oath which actually you thought you were giving yourself permission to lie James says be done with all of that don't don't make ODEs like that now we've got to say this the Bible does not forbid the swearing of all oaths only against the swearing of deceptive ODEs unwise oats or flippant ODEs how do I say that God does not forbid the swearing of all oaths because on occasion God Himself swears an oath look at Hebrews chapter 1 verse 73 it's an expression of God swearing an oath Hebrews chapter 3 verse 11 it's an expression of God's swearing an oath Hebrews chapter 6 verse 13 no there are places where God Himself swears an oath and so by the principle of non-contradiction we understand that when God speaks so strongly against the swearing of oats he's referring to these deceptive oaths these unwise oaths these flippant oats these odds that were really tricks where it was believed that it gave the person permission to actually tell a lie in the clothing of an oath or a swearing so he says do not swear either by heaven or earth or any other oath but what let your yes be yes and your no be no look just be an honest person don't be the kind of person who has to kind of dress up your supposed booth with oath upon oath no let your yes be yes and you know be know why lest you fall into judgment no Jesus said something again that just kind of Sobers us in this regard Jesus told us that every idle word we speak will be remembered before God and so we shouldn't be flippant know what God is looking at what we say God is looking at what we do now what does my knowledge of God looking at what I said what does my knowledge of this judgment that then speak about what does it lead me to well number one it leads me first and foremost it leads me to say I need a Savior in Jesus Christ because I failed I've made promises that I haven't kept I've made ODEs that I haven't fulfilled I've made a worn earth when I should not have made it I have sinned in these areas of you within you and I we need a Savior Jesus Christ this awakens us to our need for Savior that's number one but then number two it says God helping me help my yes to be yes and my no to be no you see these oaths that we sometimes swear these deceptive promises do they not demonstrate a lack of patient endurance I'm trying to game the system I'm trying to gain some advantage I'm trying to do so I'm trying to manipulate God I'm trying to manipulate another person by my swelling of the know let's be done with all of that let's have the patient endurance that James tells us to have we won't need to swear unwise OHS we won't need to make promises that we can't keep but God helping us we will find that patient endurance that we've seen in many Old Testament figures that James talked about but most of all we see in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ next time we're going to conclude this book of James starting at James chapter 5 verse 13 until then may God really work in us the patient endurance that we actually need you [Music]

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: James, Book of James, Letter of James, Christian life, patience, endurance, humility, riches, wealthy, David Guzik, Guzik

Id: kjbyBP6MoVM

Length: 44min 45sec (2685 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 13 2019