Examples of Patience in the Face of Suffering

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Let's turn to James chapter 5. This is James the Apostle. This is him closing out this wonderful book.
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We need to always keep before us, as you turn, the very theme of this epistle.
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The theme of this epistle is really faith. But I would like to tie in something very close to it.
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And both are fruit of the Spirit. And it is patience. Patience.
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I believe, as you read through the scriptures, you cannot tear the two asunder.
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They are tied together. And if you keep faith and patience before you in this epistle, you will get exactly what
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James the Apostle is driving at, and the point that he's making from the beginning to the end.
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And if you notice, he closes with patience in mind, patience in trials, as he did in the opening in chapter 1.
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And we will see this. It's always, I was thinking about this as I was studying these verses and going through these words, these wonderful words of God.
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And it's like, what is important when you write a letter?
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Usually a very good writer, if he wants to drive a point home to his readers, to his audience, he usually begins his letter and ends his letter pretty much the same, with the same theme.
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He drives at that same point. And this is what James does. And it's not by accident, it's by the
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Holy Spirit. So we're now in James chapter 5. We will look together at verse 9 -11.
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9 -11, hear the word of the living God. Verse 9,
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Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so you yourselves may not be judged.
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Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience take the prophets who spoke in the name of the
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Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the
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Lord's dealings and that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
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May God richly bless the reading of this word to our ears, from our ears to our hearts this morning. Let's pray and seek our
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Lord within this hour as we study these wonderful verses before us and that the
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Holy Spirit would teach us His ways, His heart, His mind within this hour.
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Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, what a delight, what a privilege we have this morning and every day as your children that's been adopted into your family through Jesus Christ, your
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Son, to come to you in Jesus' name and call you
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Father. That is our heart's cry this morning is Abba, Father.
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And Father, we pray that your holy name would be hallowed, that it would be hallowed, set apart.
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For you are the holy, holy, holy God. So Lord, help us to worship you in spirit and truth and in the beauty of your holiness.
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For Father, there is no worship throughout history that has not been accepted by you unless it's through your beloved
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Son, Jesus Christ, in which is pleased you. That's the only kind of worship that you accept is through faith and through the precious blood of Jesus.
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So Father, I would ask that as we come this morning to this text before us to help us.
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As we come to you, Father, we recognize that it's only by the merits and the works of Jesus Christ, His perfect works, that you even hear our cry.
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But Father, we can be assured of this, that when we do come in Jesus' name and through Him you do hear us, we know this.
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So Father, hallow your name. Father, we also pray that your kingdom will come.
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That's through the gospel, through the hearing of the gospel. Just not here, but Father, throughout
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America, throughout this world, throughout the whole globe. Father, as your word today is preached in power and in truth, may your
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Holy Spirit create faith and bring people into the kingdom.
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That's the goal, is to save lost sinners. So Father, we seek not only that your name would be hallowed, but that your kingdom would come through your blessed
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Holy Spirit. So Father, we teach us more and more of Jesus, His person, His wonderful works, change us, transform us, sanctify us through your word.
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So Father, we recognize that if your kingdom is to come,
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Lord, ours must go. It must go. That means we die to ourself.
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Father, we thank you that you are patient, gracious, merciful, good, full of compassion,
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God, that's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So now
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Lord, may your will be done. Your desires be our desires.
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May it be accomplished for your glory. And I would ask this in Jesus' name.
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Amen and Amen. But within this chapter, the overarching theme is really an exhortation to patience.
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That's chapter 5 now. Keep in mind, like I already mentioned, faith and patience are tied and linked together.
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But here in chapter 5, we see the exhortation to patience. James now turns to the brethren.
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You notice he says brethren. Brethren. Brethren. The believers who were being oppressed, the believers that were being afflicted, the believers that were being persecuted, the believers that were being tormented by unjust men.
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As Brother Keith already mentioned, there's a lot of injustice going on by unjust men and evil wicked people.
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Therefore, he encourages the brethren, the believers in Jesus Christ, to be patient. And we got to keep this before us.
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It's easier said than done, right? Last Lord's Day, we saw that one of the greatest motives for patience is really the second coming of Jesus Christ.
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That's a great motivator, isn't it? That Jesus is soon to return and has said everything right.
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Verse 7. Verse 5. I like to read it again. He says this,
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Therefore be patient, brethren. Notice again, he says brethren. Now he's turning to exhort the
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Christians, the believers, until the coming of the Lord. Then in 7, verse 7b,
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James illustrates the need of patience by looking to the farmer. The farmer was his illustration.
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And he says the farmer, what does he do? He waits. That's the key word.
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He waits for the precious produce of the soil being patient about it until it gets the early and the late rains.
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So what is he saying? Basically what he's saying, no crop appears overnight. It does not happen automatically.
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Especially if you're a farmer, you understand. The only thing I would think would happen overnight was possibly weeds that would crop up, which is not part of the produce and the harvest.
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And the weeds has to be plucked out. We can make an analogy to that. False believers and tares.
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But no farmer has any control over the weather as well, does he? We've had a lot of rain this past week.
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No one has any control over it. I have to really watch my flesh and working out in the rain and not to complain about it, but give thanks to God.
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Even though it was a cold, hard rain and delivering milk, I said, Lord, you know how much rain we need.
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A lot of people in Georgia saying we got too much rain. God knows exactly what
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Georgia needs. There's a purpose that everything God does, even though we may not see the purpose, but God knows exactly what he's doing because he's in charge, isn't he?
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Too much rain, though, can cause a crop to rot. And too much sun can cause the crop to burn up.
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But God knows best, doesn't he? So a lot of times when these things take place, there is a judgment.
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God's saying something. So that's why we need to really study his word and see what
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God is saying. An early frost, again, how about a frost? A frost can kill the crop as well.
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So in a sense, what James is saying, this is how long -suffering patients must be even with the weather conditions.
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He must also have patience. The farmer must also have patience with the seed.
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With the seed, it takes time for it to grow. And the crop, for it takes time to plant, to cultivate it, and then
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God does the rest and the miracle of that seed. So why did really, why did he willingly, why does the farmer wait so long?
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Well, it tells us in the scripture. Why the long wait? What's the purpose of the wait? There's something at the end, isn't it?
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Well, that end result is called the harvest. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil.
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He waits for the harvest. Now James is driving at something here.
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The harvest is worth the wait, isn't it? The harvest is worth the wait because it's precious.
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Every word of God is pure. Notice what he says. For the precious produce of the soil.
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Now this is what God is saying. The harvest is worth the wait. Galatians 6 time,
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Paul the apostle. In due season we shall reap if we faint not.
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If we do not lose heart. If we don't give up. God is saying patiently wait as a farmer.
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Persevering. Here you have the perseverance of the saints. Calvin didn't come up with that.
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It's in scripture. The apostles, and the apostles is taking everything from the
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Lord Jesus Christ and what they learned from him. Mark, the gospel of Mark.
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You don't have to turn there but you can write it down if you like. Study this in your devotional time. Chapter 4 verse 28 and 29.
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Jesus himself said this. He speaks of agriculture. For the earth produces crops by itself.
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First the blade, then the head. Then the mature grain in the head.
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But when the crop permits. He immediately puts in the sickle.
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Because the harvest has come. It's a great truth there. One step at a time.
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God is working forth his plan and his purpose. Until the judgment comes.
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Then there's the harvest. The sickle. You read about the sickle? It's all in Revelation.
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That's what God is going to do. So really what James is pictured here.
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Is the Christian, the believer is a spiritual farmer. You can apply this to your own life as a believer looking for a spiritual harvest.
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James 5 .8 You too be patient. Strengthen your hearts.
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For the coming of the Lord is near. James calls for resolute, firm courage.
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He calls for commitment. He calls for obedience. To strengthen.
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To establish our hearts. Now the ministry of the word of God and prayer is very important here.
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Because that really ties into everything. What he's saying of God's word and prayer.
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And a heart that is not established cannot bear fruit. Now how many times did
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Jesus speak about fruit? We're going to look at a few scriptures in that in just a few minutes. But a great deal.
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All the way through the Old Testament. All the way to Jesus and His ministry.
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Speaks about these great important truths. Well, here's an analogy on sanctification.
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Let me throw in real quick. I think it's worth a while. The farmer does not stand around doing nothing, does he?
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He's not idle. He's a very busy man. He is actually constantly at work.
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And he looks toward the harvest time. He doesn't sit back and do nothing.
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Actually, James did not tell these suffering believers to just put on a white robe.
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And sit back and relax. And do nothing. And climb a hill.
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And wait until Jesus comes back. No. Basically, an illustration.
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He tells them to keep working. Keep waiting. Keep pressing in.
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Keep doing what the Lord commands you to do. Until He comes back and sets it all right.
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And that's exactly what James is saying. Chapter and verse.
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Yeah. Luke 12, 43. Our Lord said this. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when
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He comes, shall find so doing. Doesn't mean He's earning
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His salvation. He's already saved. He's actually working as a spiritual farmer.
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Works until the harvest time. So the works, we're going to be judged by our works.
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James is really focused in on this. He's basically addressing Jewish suffering believers.
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And a lot of them that he knew that was in the crowd were professing as to be a believer.
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And he knew a lot of them were not true believers. And that's why he mentioned about justification by works.
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It's not contradicting what Paul is saying about justification by faith alone. Basically, their audience, the people in which they were addressing was a different kind of audience.
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I heard it, or should I say I read it once, that James and Paul are not contradicting each other and clashing with one another.
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They are basically back to back, facing in the direction of a different audience.
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But their message was really the same. They were just addressing a different situation. So knowing the audience is very important here.
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You're talking about Jewish believers that were suffering. But he also did not assume, or I shouldn't say presume, that everybody was saved in that crowd.
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Now, it's interesting that the farmer does not have the time also and the energy to get into fights with his neighbors, does he?
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Well, this is leading to a point here. His energy is all driven for the work.
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While God is doing the work in which the work He cannot do, but He does what He can.
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Actually, He does the work He's commanded to do. One of the sins that we must all avoid, beloved, is the sin of complaining.
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The sin of grumbling. The sin against grumbling against each other.
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The cause of impatience. Being impatient. Now, let me tell you how this ties in.
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Our impatience with God many times and often leads with impatience with other people.
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That's the way it works. You know, John basically says, if you can't love your brother whom you have seen, how can you love
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God whom you have not seen? So, our relationship with God, love the
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Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, mind, and strength, and then love your neighbor as yourself.
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Vertically and horizontally is the cross life. It's the life of the cross. You cannot horizontally love or be patient with others until, first of all, you love
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God first. And being patient toward God. You see, it's always our connection with God first.
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So, here He's saying, we must avoid this sin of falling into grumbling, impatience.
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This leads us to our text this morning because our lesson today is an important one. We have seen to be patient.
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Excuse me, one second.
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Water is good, right? Praise God for water.
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We have seen to be patient that we are to anticipate the Lord's coming in verse 7 through 8.
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And now in verse 9 through 11, James gives to believers how we can be patient, or better yet, how as believers can learn patience.
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Because patience is learned. And it's about five important truths given to us by Scripture.
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Now, let me tell you this. As I was studying this, I was looking for an outline. The best outline I could find was by Pastor John MacArthur.
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So, I'm borrowing his outline this morning. I'm sure if he was here, and I've heard him say, feel free to take my outlines and just give me the credits.
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So, I've heard him say that. I'm giving him the credit. But this is a wonderful outline.
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So, I'm borrowing from his outline this morning. I'll give him the credit, John MacArthur, from his commentary. It's a wonderful outline.
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And it's the following. First of all, in verse 9, we are to recognize the Lord's judgment.
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In verse 10, we are to follow the Lord's servant. In verse 11a, we are to understand the
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Lord's blessing. And in fourth, in verse 11b, we are to realize the
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Lord's purpose. And this last point I love. Verse 11c, we are to consider the
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Lord's character. Now, with that in mind, I love that outline. That's something that if you did not write it down,
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I would encourage you to write this one down because you can keep this before us. When you go through trials, you can remember these great points based upon Scripture, first and foremost, that this will help you through trials and testings.
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So, let us consider the Lord's character. That will be the last. We will look at some practical application in closing.
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So, let's begin as we patiently look to these points until our
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Lord Jesus comes back again, right? The first point. Let's recognize, we are to recognize the
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Lord's judgment. We are to recognize the Lord's judgment. Verse 9.
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The Word of God says, James says, Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged.
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Behold, the judge is standing right at the door. James depicts the
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Lord Jesus Christ as the judge, and He is the judge. And the picture that we have in the scene before us is that He is about to enter the judgment hall.
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He is about to come. This is the flip side of the first point
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He makes. The flip side, and by the way, when I was thinking of this, about the flip side of this, truth always has two wings.
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It never has one. Always two. Like it flies.
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A bird cannot fly with one wing. He has to have two wings to fly. Truth is the same way.
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Truth flies with two wings. So, there's always, if there's one side of the coin, there's another side of the coin to see the whole truth.
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And that's what we want, isn't it? So, a coin has two sides. So, the first point was that the blessed hope of the
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Lord Jesus Christ that is provided gives comfort in trials.
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The comfort is given that the Lord Jesus will be soon to come. However, the sobering reality that's before us is that Christ, when
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He returns, will be coming to judge the living and the dead. He's coming to judge.
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And by the way, the first time He came, He came to die upon the cross. That was
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His mission. That was the purpose in which Jesus was born, was to die on a bloody cross to redeem
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His people. To bring many sons into glory. That was in His first advent.
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But beloved, can I say this? In the second advent, He's coming to judge the quick and the dead.
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He's coming to kill. He's coming as they slaughtered Him to the cross and He was buried and He rose again the third day.
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When He comes back in glory and power, He's coming to slaughter. That's the way the
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Scriptures speak of in Revelation. He's coming to judge the living and the dead. And the reason
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He gives this warning, that James gives the warning, is because it gives us the caution, the caution to be tempted to complain.
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Notice this. Complaint is amid our trials and everyone in affliction, when they go through trials, what kind of trial it is, we all have a temptation to complain.
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Living in with difficult circumstances can cause believers to become very frustrated, to lose patience, and to complain against one another.
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Especially against those who appear to be suffering less than they who are in the midst of suffering.
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And it adds more trouble to them. It almost makes you short -fused.
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Like, why in the world are you griping about something so little and here
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I am going through something so horrific. Even the one, it doesn't matter what the degree of suffering it is, both could be complaining and both could be sinning.
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You see what I am saying? Whether one is suffering more and one is suffering less. God says grumbling and complaining period is sin.
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So we are all tempted to fall into this sin. Aren't you glad that James addresses this to help us?
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That's what God wants us, He wants to help us, He wants to teach us. As a loving, all -wise, heavenly
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Father, He instructs His children through the Apostle, through a mature
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Brethren. James is our Brethren, right? Jesus is our Brethren. But He is the
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Head Brethren. He is the Head Shepherd. He is the Chief Shepherd.
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The Great Shepherd. And above Him is the Heavenly Father. Now, this word complain, let's look at this word complain in the
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Greek. Basically, stenozo, stenozo means to groan within oneself.
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To groan within oneself. It means to sigh. It describes an attitude, according to the dictionary, that is internal and unexpressed.
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It's a bitter, resentful, spiritual problem that manifests itself in one's relationships with others.
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End quote. That's basically the definition of it. Let me say that again. It's a bitter, resentful, spiritual problem.
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A spiritual problem. Internally. It's internalized.
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Comes from the heart. That manifests itself in one's relationship with others.
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So James uses the present imperative with a negative. Which means either stop doing this or do not let it begin.
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He refers to the present or do not allow it to happen in the future. So complaining must be stopped for this fleshly spirit threatens the unity of the body.
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Fighting to fire in one another. How many churches have been tore apart, torn to bits, because of complaining and grumbling toward one another?
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Interesting lesson that we can find. You read, well, we're out now in the book of Exodus and soon we're going to be seeing how
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God delivers His people out of Egypt with a strong and mighty hand and then He leads them to Mount Sinai.
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But you remember when they went through the wilderness? All these thousands upon thousands of Israelites were complaining and murmuring to Moses.
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Moses, you brought us out into this wilderness, into this desert to die. Just constantly complaining.
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We're starving. There's no food. There's no water. There was always something they were complaining about.
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Never were they thankful. Never did they look, oh, thank you God, for bringing us out of the land of bondage, of the house of bondage and giving us your law and we are your children by covenant.
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You brought us out. They witnessed the great miracles of God. And yet they grumbled and complained.
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Well, that's a perfect example. The Apostle Paul also says something very similar in Philippians 2, 14 -16.
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This is what Paul says. Do all things without grumbling. All things without grumbling or disputing so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God, above reproach, in a crooked and a perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, notice that, the judgment, the judgment to come, the day of Christ, he says this,
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I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain or toil in vain.
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Paul is basically saying if you come out to be the harvest and the fruit in which
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God has produced, it will produce something wonderful and glorious without you complaining and on that day of judgment that he says,
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I have not run in vain. He was like a spiritual father to them. So then,
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James is giving his readers a simple but powerful motive, by the way, and this is what he's doing.
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He gives a motive, as the second coming of Jesus Christ was the motive we looked at last week, look at the motive for avoiding such a bitter and complaining spirit.
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He says this, so that they themselves may not be judged. So how can we avoid this?
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He's basically giving us a sober warning, an instruction, that a heavy judgment would not come upon us if we begin, if we fall into this temptation of complaining.
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Well, who does this sound like here? The half -brother of Jesus? You remember what
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Jesus said? In Matthew 7, 1, Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
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Do not judge so that you will not be judged. One of the most misinterpreted verses in the entire
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Bible. I've had it used on me. You've had it used against you too,
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I'm sure. In verse 2, And Jesus says this, For in the way you judge, you will be judged.
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There's no way getting around that. It's going to come back on us if we are consciously misjudging or judging someone as we should not.
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And then He says, And by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
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It comes right together, doesn't it? It comes back on us. And let me say this real quickly here.
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And let me throw this in. You already know this, but I'm going to bring it. I have to bring it to light. And as the context reveals of what
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Jesus is saying here, this does not mean to prohibit all types of judgment. Does it? Actually, in verse 16,
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Jesus says, You will know them by their fruits. You know the fruits.
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You know what's interesting? People do not read the whole chapter. They pick and choose the verses they want to to justify what they want to put across, which is usually a...
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By the way, that's a judgment. But Jesus says, You will know them by their fruits. You're going to know them.
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You're going to be discerning. Grapes are not gathered from, what? Thorn bushes.
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Nor figs from thistles, are they? That's a question Jesus asked. A simple question about trees and fruit.
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A good tree produces good fruit. A bad tree produces bad fruit.
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Black and white. What is it about that people don't get? I was talking to my wife about this, about when
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God says, Thou shalt not commit murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not covet.
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You could go on through the whole list of all the commandments of God. What is it? It's so simple that God made it so crystal clear.
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Why don't people get it? I'll tell you why they don't get it. They get it. They get it very well.
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J .C. Ryle said that. They just love their sin. Jesus says,
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So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. Verse 18. A good tree cannot...
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By the way, A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. Nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
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That simple. What's Jesus saying? In the context of what Jesus is saying here.
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False teaching. False teaching cannot restrain the flesh. Therefore, false teachers are known by their wicked and godly deeds.
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They're known by the way they live. Watch them. Don't listen to what they say.
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Watch the way they live. That's what Jesus is saying. Anybody can get up and preach a great sermon.
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The devil can do that. The devil can quote the scriptures. As a matter of fact, he can out -quote us all.
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But can he live a godly life? Does he desire to please God? Does he desire to love
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God? Does he desire to obey God? Absolutely not. As Brother Keith mentioned, does he desire to fear
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God? Oh, my goodness, no. That's far above it. He does the opposite.
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He slanders God. He hates God. He disobeys God. False teachers.
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They do the same thing. It's manifest. And Jesus says, you know them by their fruits.
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So it's manifested and it's revealed. So to the context of what Jesus is saying in this, and tying in with James, what
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Jesus our Lord in James is saying, they are compatibly and sync together, you first judge yourself so that you will not be judged.
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So Jesus is really against, and James is saying, hypocritical judgment, see.
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Self -righteous judgment. Unfair judgment.
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Those are important words. So this is the kind of judgment that is forbidden.
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Hypocritical. Self -righteous. Condemnation. Unfair. This is the kind of judgment that is forbidden, but not righteous judgment.
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Actually, Jesus commends righteous judgment to discern false teachers. Beloved, we don't see enough of this today.
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That false teachers need to be called out. And called by name.
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Paul would. Paul called them out by name. And in context, what
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Jesus is saying in Matthew 7, verses 1 and 2, in order to fulfill the commandments that follow, it is absolutely necessary to discern dogs, and it's absolutely necessary to discern pigs.
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That's what he's saying. From one's own brethren.
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Now back to James. Here's a question. Why do we judge ourselves? Why are we to judge ourselves?
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Simple answer. That we would not be judged. Judge yourself, so that you would not fall under the category of being judged by God, the judge.
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Because the judge of all the earth is going to do right. There's no curveball on his judgment. James says,
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Behold, look. That word, behold, look, gaze. He's at the door. The judge is standing at the door right now.
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I don't know about you, when I read this, I tremble. Why do I tremble? Not because of my sins.
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Because my sins have been taken care of in Calvary. My sins, I am no longer under condemnation.
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And you're as well, not. You're not under the condemnation of the law, or the sins of your past sins.
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That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about your works. Now, this is why godly people get this, and God -fearing people get this, because they know that they are to work with the zeal for the truth until they die with everything that they have within them, and all the energy that they have to do it right before God, because they know they're going to stand before the judge.
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How do we know this? 2 Corinthians 5, 10. There's so many verses. Romans 14, 10. For we must all appear.
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This is Paul. We. We. Not just me. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one.
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Is that sobering or what? In other words, we're going to all stand before God alone.
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No one else is going to be beside us. Each one will stand.
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One may be recompensed for his deeds. His deeds in the body.
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What we do in the body right now. According to what he has done. And then he says, whether good or bad.
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Now, that makes my bones shudder. Because I know I have not done enough.
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None of us is going to do enough. And how much is enough?
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How much is enough is enough. Right? Well, what
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Jesus has put in front of us we to do with all within us unto him. Whether it's being a homemaker, a wife, a husband.
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All these things are important. Not one thing is above another. Because it's all the
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Lord. And we're going to answer to God. Whether it be to the smallest thing, to the largest thing.
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That's another sermon. But because at the time, think of it. Each man's work will become evident.
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This is scripture. For the day of judgment will show it because it is to be revealed with fire.
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And the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
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If any man's work, notice how many times he says work, which he has built on, it remains, he will receive a reward.
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God is a God in rewarding. He's not this killjoy.
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He wants to reward his children. But we must do those things which are pleasing in his sight.
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Then he goes on to say this. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss.
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But he himself will be saved, yet as through fire. Notice the fire.
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The fire is going to do the testing. Scripture says God is a, what? Consuming fire.
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When he puts every ministry, whether our ministry, whatever it may be, to the test, and when the fire is put to it, one of two things is going to come out of it.
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It's going to be, if it's tried with gold, silver, and precious stones, what do you do?
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What happens when fire is put to those things? It remains the same. It's just melted down to the same gem, to the same element.
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But what happens when you put fire to wood, hay, and stubble? You've got a heap of ashes, don't you?
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You don't have what happens in fire to gold. But when you burn up wood, hay, and stubble, it's nothing but ashes.
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I heard Ravenhill say this. He said on the Day of Judgment, there's going to be a lot of preachers and a lot of ministries standing in a heap of ashes.
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There's a lot of people out there, and I hate to say this, they're preaching good sermons.
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What is the quality of their life in the prayer closet? What is the quality of life before God?
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What is their quality of life in the way they live in secret? You see, that's what is going to be tested.
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It makes me tremble. It makes me examine myself. Well, the Lord will bring both the light of things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts.
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And then each man's praise will come to him from God. So God's the judge.
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Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Jesus says in Revelation 22, 12,
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He says it Himself, Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to render to every man according to what he has done.
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Notice that. Every man to what he has done.
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This is a judgment to what believers did or did not do for Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.
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We are going to be judged according to our works after we are a believer in Jesus Christ. Now the judgment, a lot of people get confused about this.
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What about the judgment of unbelievers? That's a completely different kind of judgment. They are going to be judged because they do not have the covering and protection of Jesus Christ.
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The condemnation will fall on them. And that's the eternal lake of fire.
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Read it. For those who practice lying and abominations and it goes on, all the unbelievers, they are going to have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone.
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There is no hope for them. The Christian will have heaven. But we are going to still give an account for our works.
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And whether we are going to have reward or no reward. It's not going to, like again, it's not a judgment on believer's sins since that's already been taking place at the cross.
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That's where Jesus took that. Paul says that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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And though we need not fear facing judgment for our sins, and we love our
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Lord and desire not to lose our reward, but to hear our Lord commend us.
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The scariest words in all of the New Testament, in all of the Bible is, depart from me,
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I never knew you. Depart from me, I never knew you.
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But the most wonderful words to hear our Lord say, well done. Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the
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Lord. And that's what we plan on hearing, right? The cause of Jesus.
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And He will say that to His children. He rewards us for a life of gold, silver, and precious stones.
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So, there is a sobering word here. The judge who is the Lord Jesus Christ is pictured.
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He stands at the door. He's ready to come. He depicts Him as ready to throw open the doors.
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And He burst into the judgment hall, the scene. And He will make a dramatic entrance.
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And He comes, the second coming, with all of His power and His glory.
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And in His time and His schedule. He's coming, isn't He? So, we need to be ready.
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We also need to be patient in the meantime. Well, the second point here is, we are to follow the
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Lord's servants. To follow the Lord's servants. Look at verse 10. As an example, brethren, of the suffering and patience, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the
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Lord. And to further encourage believers to endure unjust suffering with patience.
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James basically points out the example of the prophets.
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The prophets, who had endured suffering with patience.
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You know, the word suffering is an interesting word. It's a compound word from the word pathos, which is evil.
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And to suffer with patience, which refers to patience with people.
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Toward people. How about you? I need patience toward people. A lot of people make comments about vendors.
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We have to constantly wait. I'm a milk vendor. They say, wow, how do you do it?
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I couldn't do your job. And you have to wait all the time. And you have to constantly wait. I say, that's nothing.
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My real patience is on the road when somebody cuts in front of me and acts like a moron.
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And I'm saying, Lord, help me keep my mouth shut and say a prayer.
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Because, you know, it's life -threatening a lot of times. And you take it pretty serious. And, you know, you want to say, but God's teaching me.
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Just keep your mouth shut and say a prayer. Go on. That's where the real test is, is in secret.
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What I'm saying. And I realize what I say in secret, every careless word is going to be given on the day of judgment as well.
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That makes me shudder. So patience refers to patience with people.
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Now, let's look at the... I'm going to break this up, by the way. I'm not going to be able to get to all these points. I'm going to probably end it right with this point here and leave these other points,
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Lord willing, maybe next week. Because of time. There's just so much here.
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But what does he talk about? He goes to the prophets, doesn't he? The Old Testament prophets.
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That would include John the Baptist, by the way. John the Baptist was the very last of the Old Testament prophets.
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He was actually the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. Just for the fact that he had the special role of introducing the world to the
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Lord Jesus Christ. But the prophets serve as a fitting example for all believers who endure patiently evil treatment that comes upon them from people.
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Evil people. Wicked people. Because they spoke in the name of the
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Lord. And by the way, we realize that these evil people are not targeting us because of our goodness.
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It is a spiritual warfare, as you well know. It's a truth war, really.
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They hate the truth. They hate the Jesus in us.
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That's why Jesus says, they persecuted me, they're also going to persecute you. And I love that chapter 14, 15, and 16 because in that session,
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Jesus is giving an exhortation to his apostles. I'm not going to leave you comfortless.
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I'm going to come to you. In other words, he knew he was going away. He said, but when
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I go to the Father, I'm going to send another comforter. Did you notice that, what he said?
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Another comforter. He was the comforter. And he knew that they would be pretty upset.
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But he also knew that when he says, I'm not going to leave you as an orphan.
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I'm not going to leave you alone. He knew that they're going to be persecuted. He knew hard times was heading to them.
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And he knew that they're going to need a filling of the
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Holy Spirit of God. The power of God. Not only to abide within them, but upon them as well.
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For only the Holy Spirit of God, beloved, can take us through these hard times. As he did the apostles and the prophets.
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Now the prophets didn't have the Spirit of God within them, did they? But I'll tell you one thing they did have.
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They had the Holy Spirit of God come upon them. That's the difference. When the
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Spirit of God came upon them, supernatural things happened. And most of the time they spoke supernaturally with God breathing upon them.
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The scripture says, Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Ghost as God was breathing upon them.
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So they spoke. A prophet speaks to the people for God.
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A priest basically speaks to God for the people. But the prophet would speak for God.
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That was their function. That was their vocation. And by the way, it was their vocation to suffer for God.
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Not only to speak for God, but to suffer for God. Why? Because the people hated what they said.
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They didn't want to hear the truth. Has anything changed today? You speak these hard truths to people.
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Even in churches they will turn against you. I've known some brethren back in the past that went to a church, preached on the cross of Jesus Christ and even preached about hell and they escorted
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Him out the door. They said He was unloving, He was harsh,
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He was mean, but all He was doing was preaching the Word of God faithfully. With these prophets, that was their vocation, was to speak in the name of the
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Lord. The prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20 says this,
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I believe it's verse 11, but if I say I will not remember Him or speak any more in His name, this is him speaking to himself, then my heart is become like a burning fire shut up in my bones and I'm weary of holding it in.
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In other words, he couldn't contain himself. He could not hold it in. He says, I cannot endure it.
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It was his vocation to preach the Word of God, not to say thus says the Lord. Paul said it,
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Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel of God. Notice a woe, a curse be upon me if I do not preach the
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Gospel. They had a commitment, an undying, an unmovable commitment to preach in the name of the
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Lord. This was their call, this was their passion and every Old Testament prophet would speak
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God's Word under the unction and the power of the Holy Spirit.
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They were God's spokesmen. The rejection of God's spokesman is a familiar and tragic thing throughout
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Israel's history. Jesus Himself denounced the
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Pharisees, even killing the prophets. Matthew 23, 31,
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Jesus said to them, You are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. And later in the same chapter,
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Jesus described Jerusalem, which was symbolic of the entire nation of Israel by the way, as a city, and this is what
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He said in verse 37, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.
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He killed the messengers of God, even Stephen, the very first martyr in the early church when he was on trial before the
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Sanhedrin. He challenged the Sanhedrin, the religious Pharisees and the scribes that murdered
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Jesus. This was the same crowd that murdered Jesus. In Acts 7, 52, Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?
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And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
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That's strong words. And what happened? They were cut to the heart, and then they stoned them to death.
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And they even prayed for forgiveness as they were stoned. That's the power of God, beloved.
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Throughout the history of Israel, the persecution of the prophets is really a sad commentary of the whole rejection and the abuse.
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Let's look at a few of them in these closing moments here.
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Moses had put up with the stiff -necked, rebellious Israelites, as I already mentioned, who left
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Egypt, by the way, complained and murmured for 40 years in unbelief in the wilderness.
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They witnessed more miracles than any other generation. David, before he was king of the nation of Israel in his time, was hunted down by a jealous king by the name of Saul, who hunted him as a partridge in the mountains in 1
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Samuel 18 -26. You read all about that. We read about Elijah, the prophet of fire, who faced hostility from the evil king
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Ahab and first kings, all the way from chapter 18 -21, and also his wicked wife that hated him,
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Jezebel. Also, you read in 1 Kings 19 -1 -2, basically what
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I just mentioned. Also, if you look in the life of Joseph, how he was mistreated. Joseph himself was thrown into a pit, left for dead by his brothers, because he shared the vision which
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God gave him. Though he was probably prideful as a young man at the time,
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God had a lesson for him, right? And the Scripture says that the hand of God was upon Joseph from beginning to the end.
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And look at the story and how it unfolds, of God teaching Joseph.
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But yet, God in His sovereignty was just unraveling everything that was to take place.
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Yes, God did show him that vision. But notice how Joseph started. He started at the low, in the pit, left for dead, and then he ends up in the throne in Egypt.
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God's promotion came from the Lord. The hand of God was upon Joseph.
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Look at another prophet very quickly, Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, how he endured opposition through his ministry from Israel.
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Let's look at just a few verses very quickly in closing here, and I'm going to try to wrap this up as fast as I can.
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Look at Jeremiah 18 and 18. Just go through a few verses.
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Notice what he says in 18 -18. Then they said,
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Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet.
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Come on, and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.
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Look at chapter 20. Look at 1 and 2. When Peshur, the priest, the son of Amir, who was chief officer in the house of the
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Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, Peshur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper
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Benjamin gate, which was by the house of the Lord.
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And on the next day, Peshur released Jeremiah from the stocks, and Jeremiah said to him,
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Peshur, it is not the name of the Lord that has called you, but rather,
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Magar -zizibi. Say that. For thus says the Lord, Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends.
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And while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. And I'll stop right there, but notice what he said.
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He did not hold back, even though after he was beaten, he still spoke in the name of the
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Lord. He spoke God's word. Look at chapter 26, verse 8.
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Let's just go through some of these very quickly. 26, verse 8. When Jeremiah finished speaking, all that the
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Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets, and all the people seized him, saying,
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You must die. Is that persecution? Absolutely. They wanted to kill him.
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Look at chapter 32. Look at verse 2. Now at that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging
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Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.
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They shut him up. Jump to chapter 37. Look at verse 13.
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While he was at the gate of Benjamin, again, there is the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard, whose name was
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Ireji, the son of Shehemiah, the son of Hananiah, was there, and he arrested
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Jeremiah the prophet. He arrested him. Saying, You are going over to the
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Chaldeans. Very quickly, jump to chapter 38.
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Look at verse 1 through 6.
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Now, Shephatiah, the son of Matan, and Gedaliah, the son of Peshur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Peshur, the son of Meajiah, heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,
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Thus says the Lord, he who stays in this city will die by the sword and the famine by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the
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Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.
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Thus says the Lord, this city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and will capture it.
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Then the official said to the king, Now let this man be put to death. They wanted to kill him.
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Inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in the city, and all the people by speaking such words to them, this man is not seeking the well -being of his people, but rather their harm.
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Notice how they looked at the prophets. That's just a few examples. Israel rebelled against God, brought such sorrow that they became known.
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He was the weeping prophet. Ezekiel the prophet even endured death. I'm sorry, he didn't endure death.
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The death of his wife during the course of his ministry. His wife died in Ezekiel 24, 15 -18.
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Daniel the prophet, more well -known prophet, was torn from his homeland as a young boy, and later he was thrown into a den of lions as we well know the story because of his faithfulness to God.
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Hosea the prophet endured heart -breaking marriage. Amos the prophet faced lies and scorn.
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How can we forget the greatest prophet, John the Baptist, of our
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. None was greater and born of women, Jesus said, because he bore witness of the true light and came into the world,
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Jesus Christ. Yet, according to the Scripture, he was imprisoned and John the Baptist's head was taken off from his body.
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It was gruesome. These are some of the prophets. They were persecuted.
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James is saying, look at the prophets. Does that mean to be an encouragement?
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Well, there is an encouragement for us in this. I don't have time to finish out these last points, but we'll look at them
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Lord willing next week. He goes to verse 11, that we count those blessed who endured.
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There is a blessing to the endurance, and we understand that God's hand of blessing was upon them even through harsh torments and afflictions and persecutions.
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I'll look more into that next week. But also, we ought to realize the
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Lord's purpose behind those is a pattern. The purpose is, for you have heard of the endurance of Job.
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We're going to look at Job a little bit more. I was hoping to get to that today, but there's no time left.
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There was dealings, the outcome of Job. We see the beginning and the end. Job didn't see all this.
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We got the revelation. We can see it. Now let me wrap this up. Notice the pattern that James has given.
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Those who are persecuted, Jesus says persecuted for righteousness sake, they have a reward.
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That is the kingdom of heaven. They are blessed. They endure. God, we count those blessed who endure.
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He ends the book the same way He begins it.
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But the last thing He mentions is probably the most important, and I'm going to, like I said, I'm going to focus on that a little bit next week, but let's look a little bit right here.
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If we look at the Lord's character, that's the main thing we should set our sights on and fix our eyes on, is
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God's character. Because isn't it the Lord's character that's slandered by the enemy?
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And the enemy is in this world. And the world serves the enemy. They may not verbally say they do, but they do.
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Jesus says if you're not for me, you're against me. And actually, you've only got children of God in this world and children of the devil.
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So they're serving the devil, the world system, and if they persecute us as believers, they're actually persecuting the truth, the
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Christ in us. The focal thing, the one thing that helps me more than anything, beloved, is this.
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I must focus on the character of God behind all this. Because what
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I see, I know is for a purpose, temporarily.
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And it's only for a season. Like Job, it was only for a season. We'll see that more later.
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But at the end of the season, when Job came through it, he said this, when he has tried me,
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I shall come forth as gold. Let me read something to you very quickly.
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I don't have a lot of time. My time's almost gone. It is gone. Can you stay with me just a few minutes?
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On the verse, when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
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I got this from the refiner's fire. I looked it up here. It's a great resource. God is tested by fire.
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I quote the refiner's fire here. Saints are tested by adversity. None of God's children enjoy the refiner's fire, but all of us experience it to one degree or another.
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And at one time or another. It may or may not always be a physical trial, but it's always a spiritual trial.
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And we often find ourselves with a gamut of emotions, anger, fear, despair, frustration.
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And the questions like, why am I going through this? Why me, Lord? Why now?
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You know, David asked those questions. It's not meaning doubt or casting any doubt on God that God doesn't love me, but we do.
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We doubt ourselves here, not God. And at times there is a doubt.
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Lord, what are you doing? And I like the illustration they gave here, but as someone has said,
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God takes us into the dark room to develop our character. And so when you're in the darkness, hold on to what
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God has shown you in the light. Corrie ten Boom puts it this way, when a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away your ticket and jump off.
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You still sit still and trust the engineer. Don't we need to remember this?
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That the darker the night, the brighter the stars. We trust the engineer.
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It says here, the hotter the fire, the purer the gold.
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And even as a gem cannot be polished without friction, neither can a saint be perfected without trials.
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The more a tree of righteousness is shaken by the wind, the deeper he or she becomes rooted in Jesus Christ.
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So the final analysis, affliction in the saints, the school of faith, and trial is the school of trust in the light of the fact that faith -testing times can be faith -strengthening times.
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Our great teacher writes, many a bright lesson on the blackboard of affliction, for some of life's greatest lessons are learned in the school of affliction.
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All God's testings have a purpose. Someday, you will see the light.
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All He asks is for us to trust Him. Walk by faith and not by sight.
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So I say with what Spurgeon says, and I leave you with this, when you cannot trace
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God's hand in your trials and adversity and suffering, trust His heart.
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Trust God's heart. This is where character is built. This is where gold is refined.
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This is where patience is built through the tribulation. And it's not when we're going through the trial, if we're going through the trials,
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I'm sorry, it's when we're going through the trials because we're going to go through, we're going through the fire, amen? And what's the promise in Isaiah 43?
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He says, but I'll be with you in it. I'll be with you. Let's pray. Our Father, Lord, time goes by so quickly as we look into Your Word, but there are so many great lessons for us to learn here,
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Lord. As we've heard of this admonition from James, Your servant, help us to never forget,
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Lord, about the great examples of faith that You gave us in Hebrews, that many of them did not receive the promise.
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Many of them were stoned. Many of them experienced mockings and scourgings and chains and imprisonments.
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They were stoned. They were sewn in two. They were tempted. They were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, and they were destitute, afflicted, and ill -treated, men in whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
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And all these, having gained approval through faith, did not receive what was promised.
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But God, You said, You provided something better for us so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
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Your Word continues right there. These are all the examples that You have given us in Your Word, Lord, but the one that we are to fix our eyes upon was the greatest, and he's the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.
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He despised the shame, sat down at Your right hand, and Lord, You said in Your Word, we are to consider him, consider
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Jesus, the one who endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that we will not grow weary and lose heart.
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Lord, if we consider him, that's all that's going to really count. So Father, by faith, strengthen our faith, help us to be patient as You develop this in tribulation.
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So Father, when we cannot trace Your hand in this, we can trust
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Your heart, we can trust Your character. We know You do all things well because You are a merciful, compassionate
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God. Matter of fact, Your Word says, full of compassion. You are so good.
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You will take care of Your own. You never fail. Help us to understand
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Your true character. And as long as it permits, help us to endure the oppression and injustice until You come and make it right.
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So Father, may we throw ourselves upon You in casting all of our cares upon You for You care for us.