I want it now. It's a contradiction. And yet I think it captures really the spirit of our age. That as we live today, we live in a fast-paced society, high pressure, hurried, always on the go, wanting everything in a moment. All you have to do is go to the grocery store. And what do you see on the shelves? You see, instant coffee, instant pudding, instant mashed potatoes, and minute rice. Of course, if you need money, you can get an instant loan. And if you want something, right away rather than saving up for it, you just put it on your credit card so you can have it in hand right now. We live in a society that has very little patience, very little waiting on something that I want. How much less is that the case if circumstances are going against me? If I'm facing some adversity, we want to hurry through, or if it's some injustice, the injustice to be corrected right away. We want justice right now. Well, as we read those verses, I hope you notice that they call the Christian to a different spirit. We're not to be insisting on our way and wanting to get it right now, but we're to be waiting patiently on the Lord. And that's more remarkable as you consider the first six verses, as they dealt with oppression and the wealthy and how they often oppress and often oppress, in particular, God's people. And they condemn them and even put them to death. And what should be the attitude that we would have in harsh circumstances of life, when we're being treated unfairly and unjustly? Well, it calls us to an attitude of patience. And thus, the first point is the answer to the question, how do we respond to oppression? There's a theme here. And the answer is quite simply, Christian, you are to be patient. Christian, if you endure hardship, if you incur difficult situations in your life, you are to be patient. Notice, as you look at verses 7 and 8, they both begin with that thought. Verse 7, be patient, therefore, brothers. And verse 8, you also be patient. And a number of times throughout These few verses, there's an idea of patience, being steadfast. Therefore, links the two passages, the first part about the rich and their sins and what they do, and their condemnation. It's often that they oppress the Christians. Therefore, this is your response. Patience. We should realize that when God repeats the same idea, in almost exactly the same words, in two verses, right after each other, there's something he's saying that he really wants to get through to us. He doesn't say it once, he says it twice. Be patient. Be patient. Under duress, under difficulties, be patient. Don't be like the world that's impatient, just clamoring for an answer right now, clamoring for satisfaction. A world that often becomes bitter and resentful, and sometimes that can even be directed at God, who has not vindicated them as quickly as they think they should be. And Christians can fall into that same trap. It takes a mature believer. Remember back in chapter 1 verse 4, the goal of James' writing is to encourage them to mature. A mature believer has this transformed thinking that says, I'm willing to be patient. I'm willing to wait on God. I'm not demanding my own way and my own timing. The mature believer sees beyond the here and now to the eternal. For be, recall, to be patient until. Until, there's a limit. And it's until the coming of the Lord. Now that word coming is literally the word presence. And it's pointing to the fact that there's a time coming when Jesus Christ will again be present here on earth. with his people. It's used in the New Testament in a technical sense of the expected return of Christ. When he's going to come in glory, he's going to judge the wicked and he's going to deliver his people. And one commentator says that word until has a pregnant sense. And I like that because if you think about a pregnant woman, her pregnancy is until Something happens until the birth. And so it's all looking forward to that time, but there's that passage of time that builds up to it. And so too, the return of Christ is the ultimate event, but the time there is building up to that time. It's a culmination. for all that history has been headed toward. And why are we to be patient until Christ's second coming? Why aren't we to be looking for an answer more immediately? Maybe in the next two years, or five years, or seven years. The reason is quite simply, in this life, Christians will not always see justice. Consider a business partner defraud a Christian out of tens of thousands of dollars. Maybe a Christian seeks justice in the judicial system and then prays to God that things will be set right. And seemingly, it's all to no avail. The courts turn a blind eye to his legitimate case. The partner who defrauded him feels no guilt at all, doesn't repay him one cent. In this life, he does not receive any justice. But it won't always be that way. And don't our hearts naturally yearn for justice? That the thief will be caught, the serial murderer will be found guilty at trial, the oppressor will be held answerable for the way in which he's oppressed God's people, the embezzler will be forced to repay what he's stolen? But oftentimes, in this life, It doesn't happen. The thief gets away with his stealing. The oppressor oppresses with impunity. The murderer is not discovered. But there is a time when every injustice will be made right. When every wrong will be corrected, and that is when Jesus Christ returns. And so sometimes our patience has to be until that point. God may or may not grant us justice in this life, here on earth. But ultimately, as we wait patiently at Christ's return, we will see God's vindication. Well, see, we can see that there are two other commands that accompany this waiting patiently, showing us how it's to be done. The person, as in verse 8, is established or set firmly in your hearts. And that verb was used in Luke 9, verse 51, of Jesus who set his face firmly to go up to Jerusalem. And there it's pointing out the resolve that Jesus had, that nothing would stop him from going to Jerusalem and to what he knew awaited him, his death for sinners. And likewise, we're saying nothing should stop us from godly conduct, of waiting patiently for God and for His help. And so we shouldn't be discouraged or dismayed when things go against us, when we have setbacks, when we're not given justice, when we seek it. Because our hearts are steady, are steadfast, are fixed. We're not discouraged by those things. Second, the instruction is in verse 9, that we're not to grumble against one another. That maybe is a little surprising. How is that related to waiting patiently? Because as we wait patiently, as there may be some injustice involved, we can often turn our focus on the loved one, our spouse, or maybe a Christian brother or sister. If we're not getting justice for men, if we know we're not going to become resentful and bitter toward God, we can have these pent-up feelings. And how do they come out? Well, they can come out to those closest to us. We can be done grumbling. You know, if my spouse were a little bit more understanding, Did she knew what I was going through at work? And now I've been deprived? I've been underpaid and overworked? Won't it be so much better? You know, if my pastor, the emperor, came and visited, and he heard about what's going on in my life, and showed some more compassion and companion, it would make it so much better. So we often turn our attention on someone who is really innocent and grumble against them as if they cause the problem. For the second point, we were given several examples of what it means to patiently wait and also a couple of indications of the outcome. First is the farmer. A farmer's life is really governed by a rhythm of working and then waiting. There's a time When it's time to plant with a farmer, he has to be at work, plowing and sowing. But then there comes a time after that where he just basically has to wait. He can maybe get out a few weeds and that sort of thing, but he's waiting, and he's waiting upon God, and he's waiting upon God's reign to come and to nurture the plants. And in Palestine, they needed rains currently in the late, and the early rains were in October, November, and the later rains were in April, when the crops were about ready. It's sort of like that in Indiana. You've been around enough to know that to have a good corn crop, you need rain two times. Once is when the seeds have been planted and the tops are growing, and then when the heads are filling up. If you miss rain in either one of those times, you can see it. You know, if it doesn't rain early on in the late spring, what do you have? You have these scrawny little stalks of corn that really aren't able to produce very much. And you can have those early rains and they get nice big stalks of corn, but if it doesn't rain for several months after the 4th of July, what happens? Well, there's no real corn. You open the ears up, there'll only be a few kernels there. because it hasn't gotten enough rain. And the ancient farmer had to wait upon that rain to produce a precious crop. His whole livelihood, his life depended upon it. And so he waited patiently. And if he tried to go out in the field too early, there wouldn't be a crop. So we're to consider that example. A second example is verse 10, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. When you start thinking about the prophets, you can think of Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos. What do they have in common? They all faced hostility. They were all persecuted for what they believed and what they held to, often by the king. And the fact that it mentions they spoke in the name of the Lord makes it clear that as they suffered, it wasn't because they were doing something wrong. They were doing what was right. But they endured. Give us an example of faithful adherence to the will of God. That it didn't matter what came into their life. What was important is that they stayed true to God. And God didn't drop the pain and the suffering and the hardship, remove them from them, but they endured. They suffered for God's sake and left us an example. Left us a legacy of what it means to remain steadfast, to be patient on God and so glorify Him. The third example of waiting patiently is from verse 11, is Job. Now, you recall the story of Job, it may seem a little surprising that he would mention Job. Didn't Job lament the day of his birth? And complain to his friends that what was happening to him didn't, doesn't make any sense? The hardship and the agonies? And yet, despite all that, Job never abandoned God. He continued steadfast. He continued to cling to God and hope in God, even when the circumstances indicated shift. Even when his wife would say to him, curse to God and die. Specifically here, like the farmer, what's pointed out is the end. What was the final result? And that word, and translated purpose in the ESV means end of some sort, whether the end of the story or the end that was in mind, really in this case it really doesn't matter. Because the purpose and the end of the story are really the same. Did he see patiently endured, he saw God's goodness to him. He saw manifold blessings from God given to him. Whoever he had not patiently endured, if he had cursed God and died, he would not have seen those blessings. So we have examples in Job and in the prophets and in the former of patiently waiting upon God. The third point is added to these examples are four encouragements. which remains steadfast. The first encouragement is found in verse 8, that the coming of the Lord is at hand. And we must understand that the phrase at hand doesn't mean soon. It's not taken to mean within the next year, within the next five years, within the next twenty years. For as we know, one day with God is a thousand years. And if God delays, So that sinners can repent. It's saying that there are no preliminary events that must occur before the second coming of Christ. It's now ready to happen. And we should live in the expectation that it could happen in any moment. And as you look at scripture, we're never challenged to ask the question, will be Christ's return. It's always the question, will I be ready? Will I be ready for Christ's return? And ultimately, in God's provision, it won't be long. It may seem long to us, but ultimately it is not. Not compared to a family maybe going on a trip, You're going to visit your relatives in New York or Pennsylvania. Maybe some you haven't seen for two or three years. And as you get ready to leave tomorrow, you're talking to your children and talking, you know, it's great, we're going to see Uncle so-and-so and Aunt so-and-so. Tomorrow we'll be sleeping at their house. Isn't that exciting? And you get in the car and You're halfway to Indianapolis, and what's the question that the child invariably asks? Are we there yet? To the child, it seems like you've been traveling forever and ever. But the parents who say, you know, we haven't seen these people in three years. It's only a short time to when we're going to be reunited. when we will see them again. And it may seem like a long time, 2,000 years at least, since Christ has come, before He comes back again. But it's not. And God's proven that it is at hand. The second encouragement is, verse 9, is the judge is standing at the door. And it's going along with that idea that Jesus is coming soon, but pointing out that feature that He's the judge. that as Jesus returns, He returns, this time not as a savior, but as a judge. And for unbelievers, it means that they will face the wrath of God. And that should be a comfort for us to be patient, knowing that those wands that are taking place here and now, that we never see addressed, will be addressed by the righteous judge. He will do right. And he will do right by his people. And we don't doubt that. And we shouldn't doubt that. But it also implies we'll stand before that judge. And not in terms of whether we face his wrath or not. We know that we won't. But the question will be our works, the nature of our works. Will they be wood, hay, and stumpled or burned up? Or will there be gold and silver and precious gems that abide? And so it's really giving us incentive to have works that abide. To patiently endure. To have a right spirit. Because that will go through to eternity. Third encouragement is found in verse 11, that those who endure patiently are considered blessed. Now that word blessed is sometimes translated as happy, but really I think that's a poor translation. Happy is sort of the idea of my emotional state. And that's not what blessing is. It's our objective state before God. And Jeremiah, who is called the weeping prophet, was blessed. He was in a blessed state. And what did that mean? It meant that he had fellowship with God in a way that the rest of the nation didn't. He was used in service in God's kingdom. He had eternal life. You could see God working miracles. through him. It's all part of being in that blessed state. Emotionally, he was weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem and all he saw. And that idea of blessing is something that's not tied to this world, not tied to temporary how things are, things that can be taken away, things that can be destroyed. But ultimately, they're the things that are eternal. And the fourth encouragement is found at the end of verse 11. It's the most important one. It's the nature of God. Ultimately, we can be patient, even in difficult circumstances, because we know that the Lord is compassionate and merciful. No matter what's happening in our life, It doesn't undermine in any way the very nature of God, that he's compassionate and that he's merciful. He cares for his children. He does not allow us to endure hardship for no reason. There's a purpose. There's a goal. And as we think about the sufferings of Christ, we have a God who understands the nature of suffering. who felt, probably more than any one of us here, what it meant to suffer, to be cut off from God, to go through anguish. Therefore, we can patiently look to Him. You know, I think of that as a human father. Out of mercy and compassion, how I'll allow my children to go through what might be considered difficult times. For example, a child wants a car. I could just give it to him, buy him a car, and encourage him to get a job. To save up. You know why? A desire that child's good. That when they do that, they learn the value of the dollar. As they work hard, they see, well this car costs so many hours of labor to purchase, and to maintain, and to buy the insurance for. They learn how to save. If they have a goal in mind, they need to save for it. They just can't be spending it on clothes and then expect to have a car later on. And ultimately they learn the value of what they paid for by their hard labor. If it's given to them, it means we don't care about it. When it's theirs, purchased by their sweat, They understand it's valuable. It wouldn't be much easier, much simpler just to buy them a car and give it to them. But it's better for them to have them work for it. It's out of a concern, out of a compassion that I do that. How much more does our Heavenly Father How does compassion and mercy deal with us? Sometimes giving us an immediate answer, sometimes giving us a delayed answer, and sometimes not giving us an answer until Christ returns. But it's all done out of compassion and mercy for us. The application is quite simple. As you go through this life, do you trust your compassionate and merciful Heavenly Father? Do you trust your compassionate and merciful Savior, Jesus Christ? And how do we do that? We wait patiently. We look to Him. And sometimes it will mean enduring hardship. It will mean enduring injustice. mean maybe being mocked and ridiculed, and looked down upon because of our Christian stance. But we bring patiently with that resolve, that steadfastness of heart, and without grumbling, and without complaining. That's right. give you thanks for these instructions to us. Instructions for your people, for those who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, because these are things that we cannot do in our own strength, that we know we need Christ and the strength that He gives to be able to do this. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be patient, even when situations are very trying, are very troubling. Help us to have those steadfast hearts. And a spirit that is right, that is not grumbling, that doesn't become bitter or complaining, that resolves itself to follow you and wait for you, knowing that you are gracious and compassionate and merciful. that you will, if not in this life, in the next, address every wrong and make it right. So we can be patient. Now, even until Christ returns, we pray in His name. Amen. Turn to Psalm 40, Selection A. We can be sure that God hears and responds to our prayer. We just need to be waiting patiently for His time. Let's stand and sing the four standards, Psalm 48.