Title: Persevering Faith/James 5:7-11
Content The Bible refers to three types of mature people,
The first is the one who controls the tongue,
Second, people who like me without distinction between those who like me and those who hate me.
Third, they are the people who have strong patience.
Some people give up and stop because the church is doing well because I don't do it, but it doesn't work out that way.
Whatever you do, you can achieve anything if you do it with patience and perseverance.
Believers must endure whatever happens and live for the Lord like a believer until the end.
I have to live my best life for the country, country, and the Lord by sacrificing everything I have until the day the Lord calls me while keeping my faith.
It is only a delusion to take one's life because we cannot endure it because we do not like the way the world is going. Faith has patience.
Let's look at the words of the Bible together on how to endure.
1. Be patient until the Lord comes
Look at verse 7.
“Therefore, brethren, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and is patient, waiting for the early and the latter rain.”
James tells us to be patient as a farmer waits for the early rain and the latter rain.
A Christian characteristic is patience.
To be patient until the Second Coming of the Lord means that the history of the world and the lives of individuals ultimately depend on God.
The work of the entire universe is not made by my greed, my passion, my toil, and my sacrifice, but is accomplished when God works through me and is in control of all things, so wait for His will to be fully accomplished.
Humans can be God's instruments, but they cannot be the protagonists that move the world and change history.
The will to do something on my own is vain. For us, the missions given to each of us combine to make the world go round.
Because humans have limits, no one person can move the world. It is God who moves the world.
We are part of it
For example, as a politician, as an entrepreneur, as a teacher, as a student, and as a housewife, you just have to do your job well. You just have to be faithful until the Lord comes.
The coming of the Lord can be divided into two.
First, the Lord comes and takes my soul.
It is to live the given time on this earth and go to the Lord when He calls.
Second, Jesus is coming on the clouds with the sound of the archangel's trumpet.
That day is the time mentioned in verse 7.
At this time, everyone will rise and receive the Lord's judgment.
Whether we die at the end of our lifespan or the Lord comes and calls us, we must do our best to live a life of faithfulness on this earth moment by moment. It's like a farmer waiting for fruit while farming.
The farmer sows seeds in the spring and waits for rain.
In Israel it rains once at the start of the crop and then again at the harvest. Timely sowing and trimming of crops is the key to a bountiful harvest. In order to do that, you have to pay a lot of attention and spare no physical effort. Farming is very demanding work. Waiting training is required.
John Wesley, founder of Methodism
Every time her son did something bad, the mother gave advice, gave advice, and gave advice twenty times to correct the habit. Seeing this, my husband asked how he was able to persevere and give advice like that twenty times. Then Wesley's mother said, "If I had endured only nineteen times, all I would have endured would have been in vain. I have endured it up to twenty times, so my son has done well.”
There is success and fruit in perseverance.
Life is a series of patience.
For a life to come into this world, a mother must endure ten months.
A newborn baby will have to wait at least 4, 5 years to ride a tricycle. Even if you want to finish your studies from kindergarten to college, you have to wait at least 17 years. Those who persevere and study to the end can receive a bachelor's degree.
Life is patience.
A family that is patient is ultimately a happy family.
Life brings success to those who persevere.
Christian faith is patience.
Jesus endured to the point of death.
How long will we have to endure?
Look at verse 8. “Be patient with the way and be strong, for the coming of the Lord is near.”
Do not be discouraged, but wait and be patient until the day of the Lord's coming.
This world history and my life are God's work, so we do not need to be discouraged.
In order not to become discouraged, we must strengthen our hearts. You have to give your life and all your energies to do what God wants, according to God's will, and to do what God wants to accomplish through you, even to the last devotion.
2. Be patient without complaining
When you are patient, you should not complain.
There are two ways to be patient.
There is a way to endure while complaining, and there is a way to endure without complaining. Look at verse 9.
“Brothers, do not grumble against one another, so that you will not be judged.”
Those who complain will be judged.
A person who complains is not good at anything.
What would a person who always complains do?
Those who persevere no matter what they do will do well. A person who perseveres without complaint and fights to the end
It bears fruit and is blessed by God.
No matter what difficulties you face in your life journey, if you persevere and rely on the Lord, God will grant you grace.
The reason we have to be patient is “because the judge is standing outside the door.”
The day of the Lord's coming has come. Even if we have suffered injustice and lost money, Jesus Christ, the Last Judge, has come right out the door and will avenge us.
The day is coming when the person who made me unjust, the person who harmed me, the person who deceived me, the person who hated me, will all be judged before God.
We can be patient because a righteous judge waits outside the door.
Christians do not live by looking at people, but by looking to God.
We live with hope in the eternal world.
Also, knowing that it is up to the judge to take revenge, we do not despair, give up, or despair over the things of this life.
Let's look at the lives of the prophets and Job as patient believers we must imitate.
First / Prophets
“Brothers, let the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord be an example of suffering and long-suffering” (verse 10).
Our ancestors of faith suffered all kinds of hardships in order to live according to the word of the Lord and to fulfill the will of the Lord. I was stoned, bitten by animals, imprisoned, hidden in a cave, starved, and thrown into a lion's den, but I overcame all the pain.
He kept his faith until the time of his martyrdom.
He never gave up on life or blamed God.
The prophets lived by enduring suffering through faith.
The hallmark of a believer is patience.
Second / Job
Job is a symbol of perseverance.
“Behold, we call blessed those who persevere. You have heard of Job’s patience, and have seen the end of the Lord, who is most merciful and merciful” (verse 11).
Those who persevere find favor with God.
Those who give up halfway, those who are discouraged, those who are afraid, those who are anxious, these people get nothing, but those who persevere to the end can reap the blessings and fruits of God.
Job was like that.
No matter how hard you go through hardship, you can say that it is not hardship compared to Job's suffering.
Job lost all ten children.
No matter how much you suffer, you will never suffer as much as Job. Job lost all of his possessions. All the livestock were also killed. A storm came and the house collapsed. Even his wife, instead of comforting him, said, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9), so how shocked Job must have been.
If you think you are suffering right now, think about Job before you think about why God is giving me this kind of suffering.
Does your wife or husband tell you to die? Probably not.
What made Job even more painful was that he had skin diseases all over his body. Job was so itchy that he could not stand it. Imagine scratching an itchy spot with tile, and a dog coming and licking it.
But even in the midst of these hardships, Job never complained.
Rather, he did not blame God, saying, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
Do you think God will leave a person like Job like this one who finds a title to praise God even in extreme circumstances? He never leaves it alone.
As you can see in verse 11, “The Lord is the most merciful and merciful,” so with this kind of faith, they look to God until the end, give thanks to God to the end, and have mercy and mercy on those who praise God to the end. gives you
You will receive many times greater blessings and fruits than before suffering.
I hope you too will come to understand this truth.
So, I hope you have the faith to wait patiently until the very moment you take your last breath, until the Lord comes, until you receive the fruits of the Lord, and enjoy the blessings the Lord gives you.
May your life, your home, your work, and this country always be peaceful and full of joy because of your persevering faith.