Wait For It

September 24, 2017 Speaker: Ted Detiveaux Series: A Faith That Works

Topic: Patience Scripture: James 5:7– :10

Wait For It 

James 5:7-10 

7Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. 

The very first thing we see in these verses is a call to patience.   

Yet in 2017, especially in America, we don’t have time for patience.  We want our way and we want it right away!  

How many of you can agree that waiting 2 minutes for a pizza pocket is entirely too long? 

How many of you feel that the process that God has you in right now is taking entirely too long? 

  • You may feel a call to the ministry and you are waiting for God to use you in a great way.   
  • You may be waiting to see the salvation of your friends and family.  
  • You may be waiting for a financial breakthrough in your life.  
  • You may be waiting for an answer to a prayer 

The encouragement from James is to keep waiting.  Keep believing, don’t give up hope.  

Know this as you wait, God is developing character in you.  Long before I became a pastor, I was serving in the church.  I would set up tables, clean toilets, cut grass, build things, meanwhile I knew that God had a bigger plan.  Therefore, I had to be patient and remain faithful in what seemed like the smaller things.  

Don’t despise the waiting period that you are currently in, being it is preparing you for your future.  

James continues by using the word brethren.   

Brethren- a fellow believer united to another by the bond of affection.  

So just to clarify, ladies you are included in the brethren as we are united with the same affection towards Christ.  

So again, he is not talking to those outside of the church, he is talking to fellow believers in Christ.  His encouragement to the brethren it to be patient.  

Sometimes we don’t mind waiting, if we know exactly how long we must wait for.  

We went to Schlitterbahn in San Antonio and as we are walking up to the top of a 67’ high water slide named the “Master Blaster” we see this sign that says at this point your wait is one hour.   I felt like I could endure the wait of this line knowing it was only one hour. Even though it was more than an hour.  

In our story today, James also instructs them on how long they should wait.  Till the coming of Christ.   

  • Did they see the coming of Christ in their day?   
  • Have we seen the coming of Christ in 2017? Nope keep on waiting.  

We often give up before we see the promise.  We have a difficult time waiting for something that we cannot see.  

I have a great respect for the men in the bible who never seen the promises of God fulfilled in their life time yet they waited patiently for it. Take Abraham for an example.  God had promised Abraham in  

Genesis 12:2-3. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 

Though Abraham lived to see his grandson Jacob, He did not live to see the fulfillment of God’s promise that he would become a great nation nor would he see all the families of the earth blessed.  The fulfillment of those promises would come much later.   

However, he believed in God’s promises and he waited for the fulfillment of it.  

  • If you had to wait without seeing the answer in your lifetime, could you do it? 

James is saying two things right here, wait for it till Christ returns, and that Christ is returning 

Both ideas are filled with hope.  An answer is on the way, and Christ is on His way as well.  

This is the Hope that we hold onto in those seasons of waiting.  

7b 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.  

Has anyone here ever tried growing tomatoes or some type of vegetable from a seed.  

  • You can sow the tomato seed in an indoor environment around December or so. 
  • You can then plant it in your garden around March. 
  • Finally, you can pick your tomatoes in May/June.  

So roughly six or seven months later you are enjoying some nice red juicy tomatoes.  

With the Israelites, their crops where mainly barley and grain.  Their weather is much different than ours as it does not rain from the month of May all the way to the month of September.  

So, when James mentions the early rains he is talking about the rain that falls at the end of October- beginning of November.  This is an indication to farmers to start ploughing the ground and planting seeds.   

The latter rain that is described comes much later around March or April.  This rain is necessary for maturing the Barley and wheat crops.  Barley harvest is usually in April and May, and wheat harvest in May and June.  

So, from the time that the ground is ploughed and the seeds are planted to the time of harvest we are looking at approximately 6 months or so.  

That’s a long time to wait.  Do you remember what you did in March of this year?  

  • How foolish would it be if an Israelite farmer went out the very next day after planting the seed, and because he did not see any fruit decided to destroy his entire field with fire.  
  • How foolish would it be if you did the same to your tomato plants? 
  • How often do we do the same thing with the promises of God?  

You prayed a prayer of faith and nothing happened in the timeframe that you had allowed so therefore you abandoned all hope regarding the promises of God.  

Or instead of abandoning all hope you take it to the other extreme.  Because you feel like He is not moving fast enough, you take matters into your own hands. That would be the equivalent of plucking an immature tomato that has not been fully formed from its tree.    

Or harvesting some wheat or barley before it has fully developed.  

It might look like a tomato but it does not taste like one that is for sure. It is not developed.  

It might look like God is in it but it will lack the fruit thereof.  

James again says 

8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 

If you don’t think things are moving as you would wish, be patient.   

We did not see a whole lot of growth at the start of this church.  But we patiently waited on God and He has added to our numbers.  

In the midst of waiting I’ve learned to cherish this scripture in Galatians.  

Galatians 6:9 (ESV) 

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 

  • The fruit is coming, wait for it. 
  • The answer to your prayer is on the way, wait for it.  
  • The ministry that God has for you will open up, wait for it. 
  • The prodigal son and daughter are coming home, wait for it. 
  • The return of Christ is soon, wait for it.  

James then instructs his audience to not only be patient, but to also establish their hearts.  

Establish your hearts.  To make firm or to strengthen. 

To have resolved in your heart no matter what happens, I am going to wait on the Lord and believe in his promises for me.  To Establish your heart means to take on the attitude that I will not be shaken. 

Another scripture that will help you to hold on and wait during a trying time is: 

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) 

31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. 

 

Notice that you are waiting on the Lord, for His perfect timing.   

Be unwavering in your faith as you begin to wait patiently on the Lord.  

The next verse begins to describe how we are to treat one another, while we are waiting.  

9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.  

Again, James uses the expression brethren.  Even more reason not to grumble against each other as we are all united with one another through our love for Jesus Christ.  

Grumbling is the opposite of being patient.   

How would you respond if you were to go through Popeye’s drive through, with the intent of getting a 3-pc spicy chicken dinner, only to discover that they are fresh out of spicy and that it will be an additional 8-minute wait?   

Do you grumble at the fact that you now must wait an additional 8 minutes after already waiting 10 minutes prior to placing your order?  

If you are grumbling, then you are not really being patient. So even in our relationships we need to be patient with one another.  We especially need to be patient with other brethren or believers who may also be in a waiting season themselves.  

James stresses his point that we need to be patient with others because the Judge is watching.  

The righteous Judge is watching.  He will punish the wicked and reward the righteous.  He is standing at a close distance, as close as a knock on a door, He stands and watches.  

James ends out this idea of patience by reminding us of those in the bible who suffered, and through their suffering they have shown us how to be patient and wait.  

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.   

Joseph- was a man with a dream. His dream was that he was to be raised to a prominent position and that his brothers, even his Father would bow to him.  Joseph patiently waited for the fulfillment of this dream as he was thrown into a pit, sold to some Ishmaelites, then sold again to Potiphar.  He was wrongly accused of rape and consequently thrown into prison.  Just when he thought that his dream would come true with his interpretation of the cup bearer and baker’s dream, He had to wait some more.  Then finally, at the right time, in the right place God fulfilled His promise.  

Job- to prove Job’s faithfulness, God allowed satan to destroy everything that Job had including his children.  Even after some worthless friends vexed his soul day in and day out.  They tried to convince Job these things happened to him because of his sin.  Nevertheless, Job did not curse God, but trusted that God had a plan.  God eventually gave Job even more than he had originally lost.  

These were just two of the many greatest examples of suffering affliction as well as the greatest examples of patience. 

You can learn to wait for it knowing that God has all things under control.  In the right season at the right time God’s Word will be fulfilled.  

 

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