Simple eschatology, to deep eschatology--the question is: Are you behaving properly as you await the end?
Patiently Awaiting the Outcome of the Lord's Dealings
James 5:7-11
Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to James 5:7. As everyone is turning there, I want to briefly discuss the subject of eschatology. The word, eschatology is from the Greek word, eskhatos, which means last, furthest, or remote. Eschatology is the study of last things. Classically, the study of last things has been listed as encompassing the general area of death, judgment, heaven, and hell. Invariably, the return of Christ to destroy His enemies is typically an essential element of eschatology. At various times in the past, throughout the history of the church, this subject has seemingly been a somewhat easy endeavor for Christians to consider from God's revelatory statements. In our time it has not been so easy to consider. It has become rather complicated. Nevertheless, in our time, it has dominated Christianity as one of the most popular areas of interests for Christians to study. There seems to be more fascination with this one area than most other theological considerations. Because of the prevalent interest in eschatology, it seems the whole subject would be easy to understand, but in reality, eschatology has become a very difficult, and confusing area.
In terms of how the church has historically dealt with eschatology, we look back and we consider that during Christ's pre-cross earthly ministry, Jesus' explanation to His students of events to look for in their own generation was the original emphasis they focused upon. Foundationally, this was the main concern of what we today call the study of last things. It is important for us to recognize that the expectant awareness of the immanency of Christ's returning appearance, plus certain things Jesus told His students to look for that would take place before His appearing and destroying apostate Israel's pagan city of Jerusalem, was the huge eschatological focus among the saints in that first generation. They were awaiting a huge event that would be both swift and desolating in much the same way God explained His activity in such events like are found in the prophecy of Isaiah 19,
"The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them." Isaiah 19:1
God fulfilled this promise against Egypt in 480 BC, and the disciples and early Christians knew it. Jeremiah explained the same kind of activity,
"For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, A time of doom for the nations. Egypt, ... Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword. ... 7 They will be desolate in the midst of the desolated lands;" Jeremiah 30:3-7
God fulfilled these things before 400 BC. The apostles were aware that God keeps His promises. They saw it in the promise that He made to come desolate Jerusalem centuries earlier in 586 BC,
"4 So I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests. ... 6 And those who have turned back from following the LORD, and those who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him." 7... the day of the LORD is near, ... 12 It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men ... 13 Moreover, their wealth will become plunder ...
[plunder for the Babylonian army which is a tool in God's hand]
... and their houses desolate; ... 14 Near is the great day of the LORD, near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
[Because in the day of the LORD, God used a human army to fight against the men of Jerusalem]
15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; ... 18 ... On the day of the LORD'S wrath; and all the earth will be devoured in for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one of all the inhabitants of the earth." Jeremiah 4
The people of the first generation of the church knew these things, and things like them in Zephaniah 1, and Joel 2--all historic prophecies of the great day of the LORD, where he came to destroy Jerusalem, His enemy, in 586 BC. This is why it was so simple for them to study the times that were prophesied for their own generation. The same would have been true of us too, if we had lived in that same generation. The 40 year generation started at Christ's self inaugurated pre-cross ministry at age 30. The generation ended in His Sovereign destruction of apostate Israel's temple system in AD 70. Biblically, a generation refers to a 40 year period of time. The destruction of apostate Israel of that time occurred by God's sovereign hand in much the same way that Jerusalem and the temple of apostate Israel was destroyed by Babylon centuries earlier--only the last time it was by Roman armies instead of Babylonian, and the destruction was more devastating--leaving total desolation. When it came to an awareness of the end times, the early Christians were anticipating all the events that Christ foretold would happen. They were expecting it all to happen around them. And they expected it to end in Christ's vengeance upon apostate Israelites who were both His enemies, and the enemies of His true church.
After Christ was rejected by apostate Israel, executed by them under Rome, and then resurrected, the original students of Christ, their immediate students, and those following within that 40 year period before 70 AD, were undergoing great persecution as the true children of God. The tribulation was intense. In this horrible time, the true followers of Yahweh were being hunted down and killed by people who were once in covenant with God. But the persecutors were the rejectors of Yahweh because they rejected His Messiah. Further, the persecutors kept claiming that they were the true people of God, and that the followers of the Messiah were evil. These facts, and the stigma of being a Christian, made being a follower of Christ in those days a perplexing thing for many among the churches. Today, we are so detached from the way things were back then that we might be wondering how Christians could have been so perplexed. But, try to put your mind there for a moment. Let us try to understand that to become a Christian was to be someone who was being told by your Israelite brothers and sisters that you have just turned against Yahweh (not them) and that you are an evil person who has joined a false cultic sect of heretics. On top of that, Judaizers were trying to get Christians, who had been freed from the bondage of the Old Covenant Law, to come back under the Old Covenant. This was both confusing and oppressive. Christianity wasn't easy, and understanding all of this wasn't easy. Further, your Messiah was the ultimate and final sacrifice, and yet sacrifices were still being made in the Jerusalem temple. But, how could this be? Why was the old priestly system still in existence? Why did the priests, scribes, Pharisees, and rulers all reject Jesus, and yet they are allowed to continue as if they are the true people of God? Should I go up to temple and pay alms, and have sacrifices made? Is all of this ever going to end? Didn't Jesus say that it was going to end? Year after year after year of this went by, but when is it all going to end? Because of the perplexing events of their day, the apostles wrote many things in the New Testament epistles to explain what was going on. They made it simple because it was simple. They set out to encourage the saints to understand the evil days in light of prophecy and proper doctrine. With all this as the backdrop, both Jewish Christians, and the multitudes of Gentiles being harvested by God's sovereign hand, were being schooled in the mindset of patience, unity, and stability in their daily state. The comforting word was to wait "patiently;" Christ's coming in respect to His day of vengeance will happen soon.
Reading through the New Testament, starting with the encouragement of Christ to his original disciples, we see that the Christians were constantly being encouraged to await the cleansing return of the King of kings to destroy the last vestiges of the old defunct earthly kingdom city of David--Jerusalem. Jerusalem is where the old priesthood resided. Jerusalem was also the resting place of the Old Testament temple. The temple stood there tall and ominous as the place where Christ confronted the apostates. It is where Christ was later put on kangaroo trial and rejected. That temple, which once had glory, now had no glory as it stood in the way, being against the way of Christ. Jerusalem and the temple is where the evil pretenders still resided. It is where they sat in the chair of Moses; they dirtied His seat, and defiled the name and glory of the One true God. But all of this was prophesied to occur, both by the Old Testament prophets, and by Christ. These events became the reason for the encouraging word for patience in that day. So, with the early events of the first century unfolding according to Christ and the apostles, eschatology for the early Christians was rather easy to conceptualize. In other words, it was not too deep to grasp. They knew (to some recognizable degree) what they were looking for in their generation. This does not mean that every microscopic detail was completely understood. There were some elements of mystery as the early Christians watched, waited, and witnessed, but it really wasn't a complex issue at all. The biggest issue at the time for the true children of God was to be faithful, live godly, minister to other people in evangelism, and to the body of Christ in edification while encourage one another as they saw the day drawing near--all while expecting to be persecuted by the false children of God. After the apostate system was finally wiped away in 70 AD, all these prophetic details remained seemingly uncomplicated.
Still not yet getting too deep with eschatology, various theologians throughout the following centuries referred to the destruction of Jerusalem as the pivotal event that Christ prophesied would happen, when by God's hand, He would desolate the abomination of the apostates that He spoke of all throughout Luke 21. Jesus referred to it as the days of vengeance in Luke 21:22. The theologians of the early centuries, that I am talking about, also believed that Jesus and the apostles taught that prophetic fulfillment would come to that same generation that they lived in, and preached to. They believed this about that generation based upon Matthew 23:36 where Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in 23:32-33, saying to the Scribes and Pharisees,
"36 Truly I say to you, ..."
["you" are the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees of v.25]
"... all these things ..."
["the things" are what Jesus just described in the context, such as the desolation of the temple they were standing in]
"... will come upon this generation ..." Matthew 23:36
["the generation" is the generation that Jesus is talking to at that very moment of His rebuke]
Christ goes on immediatly after this confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees to re-identify "this generation" once again in Matthew 24 in His prophetic warning of events to come, as we read,
"3... the students came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things happen,
[They are asking about "these things" Jesus just announced to the scribes and Pharisees a few verses earlier where He told them that the temple was going to be leveled, and the Pharisees would fill up the guilt of their apostate forefathers]
and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?' ...
[Jesus answers]
32 Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." Matthew 24:32-34
Such venerable scholars of the early church like, for example, Athanasius (when he refuted the view of apostate Jews that the Messiah had never come as Jesus or anyone, and was still to come a first time) recorded that he believed that Christ appeared a second time in that first 40 year generation to do as He told His students in Matthew 24, where Athanasius asserted that the meaning of the ancient prophecy in Daniel 9:24-25,
"... declares that He Who is to be anointed [Messiah] is not man only, but the Holy One of holies! And it [the prophecy in Daniel] says that Jerusalem is to stand till His coming, and that after it prophet and vision shall cease in Israel!" (On the Incarnation of the Word, Athanasius, Chapter 6, Refutation of the Jews, Section 39 Verse 3)
Jerusalem stood until 70 AD, and then it was leveled. The temple was an abomination that was brought to desolation. The Levitical priesthood was wiped away. Endless genealogies that Paul the apostle preached against, faded away. The Israelite enemies were cleared away in making room for the growth of God's true people, and the endless genealogy of His church, which is the body of Christ made up of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation who are living temples of God's Spirit under His New Covenant. In His refutation of apostate Jewish speculation, Athanasius argued that Jerusalem stood until Christ's coming--but not after. This was something that the Jews of Athanasius day could not argue against. Further, God's New Covenant prophets such as Peter, James, Paul, and others, prophesied in Jerusalem until AD 70, but we have no record of any doing so after its destruction, which was Athanasius' point to the apostate Jews of his day in exegeting Daniel's prophecy. Athanasius recognized that Jerusalem stood till Christ's coming in his incarnation, and then Christ was crucified, and resurrected, where He left earth and ascended into heaven. In the meantime, Jerusalem remained standing for over thirty more years. The point is that for decades in that first generation, prophet and vision continued, and so did the city of Jerusalem. But later in the same generation, Jerusalem was finally destroyed through the hand of God according to Daniel's prophecy, and according to Athanasius "Jerusalem is to stand till His coming," means that He came again, in some sense, at its fall.
Clement of Alexandria also believed, and stated plainly that the abomination of desolation of Daniel's 70th week was in the time of Nero in that generation. Clement recorded that the continuance of sacrifices in Jerusalem was the prophesied abomination to the one true Yahweh that ended in desolation from Him in 70 AD. Eusebius commented that James, (who wrote the James 5:7-11 passage that we are going to study this morning), believed that Jesus was coming back in James' own generation. Eusebius believed that James was inspired by the Holy Spirit to believe this, just as James was inspired by the Holy Spirit to assert every other doctrinal fact in his epistle. Eusebius also wrote, matter of factly, that the abomination of Desolation prophesied in Daniel occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. These men, and such notables as Justin Martyr of the mid one hundreds AD, John Chrysostom the great golden tongue preacher of the early centuries, and Alexander of Alexandria, are just a few among multitudes of early Christian leaders who believed and wrote briefly in various writings concerning the fact that the destruction of Jerusalem was a fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, Christ's prophecy in Matthew 23 and Luke 21, and the apostles' teachings. Over the next one and a half millennia, this was a belief that of most Christian scholars. During the same time, eschatology was not a primary theological system to break down and comprehensively codify like it is today, so consequently little was written about it over the following centuries of church history. This fact is very hard for Christians in the United States to remotely relate to with all of our books, eschatological theories, Television programs, websites, charts, drawings, movies, and sermons that focus upon this area in the way we do. Nevertheless, the few writings that comment on some of these things throughout church history are merely limited to a few brief mentions here and there scattered over more than a dozen centuries. Again, eschatology was not considered to be very deep, and it did not have the controversy of thousands of theories, and volumes of competing arguments like it does today.
Nevertheless, there was some dynamic range of beliefs in the church over the centuries concerning eschatology, and some of them actually do go a bit deeper. What I mean is that many Christian scholars after the first century also believed in more fulfillment at the end of a time of church history typically referred to as the millennium. Millennium is the Latin word for a thousand years. Some believed that Christ's coming again would follow a literal thousand year period, and yet others believed that the period was not a literal thousand years. This view is formally called amillennialism, where Christ is ruling King over His kingdom from His high position in heaven seated on the throne at the Father's right hand on through to today. At His coming, the fullness of His kingdom will be established. When Christ did not demonstrate some sort of coming at 1000 years in the medieval period of history, the non-literal millennium view remained as the victor in the arena of deepness in eschatology. In a nutshell, modern amillennialism says that Christ will come back after a long period of time, and there will be a resurrection and judgment from Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is also called the amil position, for short.
But then about 1800 years after Christ's death and resurrection, a new view suddenly arose. It is the view that Christ did not fulfill His prophecy to destroy Jerusalem and the apostate Temple system--removing it forever, with God focusing His attention only upon the New People of God, which comprise His New Covenant church, as the true spiritual Israel of God of the One Promised Seed. Today, this view has become the dominating theory to drive most of the contemporary church to look forward to all the prophecies that Jesus made, with those of the Old Testament, and those of the apostles, to finally be fulfilled in our generation. This view is based upon a Bible approach system called dispensationalism which believes that the physical descendants of the original 12 tribes of Israel:
1) are still considered to be identifiable
2) are people that are still in a covenant with God outside of Christ.
3) are the central focus of contemporary world events that reflect the prophecies of Christ, the Old Testament prophets, and the apostles.
This deeper dispensational view eclipsed the early first century view that is traced back to the warnings of immanency found in the original Scriptures, and further, it has dominated, in our day, over the deeper classic amil views that followed in church history. In this now popular dominating view, all of the physical descendants of Israel will be saved as a matter of a great final ingathering. Some who hold to this view, also believe that all the prophecies of Christ, the apostles, and the Old Testament prophets are double. They see that the destruction of Jerusalem was a fulfillment of prophecy; but, they believe that the same prophecies will be repeated again at a true end of a final age, which is generally believed to be our generation now. This is called the double prophecy view. Amil adherents also believe in double prophecy. Double prophecy theory is one of the areas that make all subsequent eschatological considerations deeper than those of the people of the first generation period. The repeating prophecy view is also shared by something called the preterist idealism view. Nevertheless, many today, who are influenced by the entrance of the 1800's view onto the church scene, do not recognize that at least many, if not most of Christ's prophecies, had fulfillment, and that this has even been a historic view of the church. Further, many today do not believe, as Eusebius evidently taught, which is that most all of the end times prophecies were fulfilled in the end of the time of the first New Covenant generation.
I share all of this with you this morning because regardless of what views have arisen in the last 150 years of church history that deny that prophecy from Christ, His apostles, and Old Testament prophets, were fulfilled extensively in the first century before and at 70 AD, the fact remains that such prophecies were believed by the Bible writers and the early Christians to be fulfilled any day, at any time, in fact very soon, in their own time. They did not claim to know the exact day, nor the exact hour, but they did claim to know the generation, and so each day they awaited the day and hour to arrive as promised. This belief is the backdrop of the Holy Spirit inspired proclamation of James that we are studying this morning. Please read James 5:7-11 with me at this time. Remember, James is writing to the Christians of the twelve dispersed tribes of Israel. He is writing facts that are inspired by the Holy Spirit because there are no mistakes in the Bible. He is writing about the year 49 AD, and he says,
"7 Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not complain, brothers, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10 As an example, brothers, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. [ESV--remained steadfast] You have heard of the endurance [ESV--steadfastness] of Job and have seen the outcome [ESV--purpose] of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful." James 5:7-11
Please prepare your hearts for the sacred preaching of Gods' word in this sermon titled,
Patiently Awaiting the Outcome of the Lord's Dealings
[prayer]
As we come into this section, we read that James is encouraging the Israelite Christians 20 years after the resurrection of Christ, to be patient. James just finished warning unscrupulous rich people concerning their unrighteous treatment of those who are righteous. In respect to this, James said, coming into our passage,
"It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!" James 5:3
The term, the last days, is a reference to the end of that age that James, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recognizes that they are in. We are familiar with this term. It is used all throughout the New Testament. In Peter's first great sermon, where the Holy Spirit empowered Him to preach to the lost sheep of the house of Israel at Pentecost, Peter quotes the prophet Joel. Peter preached that what was happening on that Pentecost day was the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32,
"But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: 'Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: And it shall be in the last days that I will pour forth My Spirit on all mankind ..." Joel 2:28, cf. Acts 2:14-17
Paul alerted Timothy, his true child in the faith, saying,
"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come." 2 Timothy 3:1
The writer of Hebrews declares to the Hebrew people of that age,
"1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, ..." Hebrews 1:1-2
We recognize the terminology. In 2 Peter 3:3, Peter writes to those who have received the same kind of faith as himself, saying,
"3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming ...' 11 ... what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, ... 13 ... beloved ... be diligent [Peter's audience] to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless," 2 Peter 3:3-12
So we see that James mentions these last days too, and this is the context that we find James saying, Therefore. When James says therefore, what he is doing is magnifying upon, and summing up, what he just said. James actually says,
"7 Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord." James 5:7
So, here is the picture: James says to the Christian Israelites of the 12 dispersed tribes in about 49 AD, to be patient, and James is connecting this patience to the last days and the coming of the Lord that James expects his audience will soon see. Just as the audience of James is familiar with the term last days, they are also familiar with the coming of the Lord. They would be mindful of the words of Christ, where Christ said to His students to be alert each day and each night of their conscious lives,
"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming." Matthew 24:42
Those same men do not know when the exact day or hour will be, but those exact men were commanded to be alert in their lifetimes to expect what was promised to occur in their lifetimes. Paul used it at his expectation of the soon coming of Christ, where inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul prophesied to the Thessalonians,
"For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?" 1 Thessalonians 2:19
"12... may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His set apart ones." 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
"For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep." 1 Thessalonians 4:15
"Now may the God of peace Himself set you apart entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23
"... brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him," 2 Thessalonians 2:1
Then James mentions it here, and immediately again, where James says,
"7 Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is near." James 5:7-8
James is concerned with the saints nurturing patience in waiting for the coming of the Lord. In fact, this urging to strengthen their hearts is because the coming of the Lord is near. As in the previous terminology, I want us to notice that the second time that James uses the term coming of the Lord, James uses another popular New Testament term that describes the event as being close at hand. He says,
"8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is near." James 5:8
The word is "near," and we recognize the constant usage of this word too. In Romans 13:12 Paul says,
'The night is almost gone, and the day is near." Romans 13:12
In Philippians 4:5 he says,
"Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near." Philippians 4:5
The writer of Hebrews says to the Christian Hebrews that they should be,
"not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you [Hebrew Christians of that generation] see the day drawing near." Hebrews 10:25
Peter says,
"The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer." 1 Peter 4:7
There are two places in Revelation that use this term too. Looking at Revelation we see a fluid use of terms of immediacy that connect to the two passages that use near. For example, we see John saying in verse 1,
"1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place;" Revelation 1:1
John knows that something is about to happen. So, we read in verse 3 where near is used,
"3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; because the time is near." Revelation 1:3
The time is close at hand, and so we read in verse 7,
"7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him;" Revelation 1:7
Those who pierced Him, are those who crucified Him in Jerusalem who happen to still be alive at the time of the giving of this apocalypse. The same urgency, and immediacy is found throughout the rest of Revelation. In chapter 2, John writes to the Asian church in Smyrna,
"10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested," Revelation 2:10
To the Asian church at Pergamum, John writes that Jesus says,
"16 ... I am coming to you quickly," Revelation 2:16
To the Asian church at Thyatira, we read Christ saying,
"... what you have, hold fast until I come." Revelation 2:25
In chapter 3, John warns the Asian church in Sardis,
"... if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief," Revelation 3:3
To the Asian church at Philadelphia--Christ says,
"10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown." Revelation 3:10-11
We find the same sense of urgency and immediacy in chapter 22, where we read
"the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. 7 And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." Revelation 22:6-7
Then in 22:10 John uses near again,
"10 And he said to me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.'" Revelation 22:10
In 22:12, we read,
"Behold, I am coming quickly," Revelation 22:12
And finally in 22:20, Christ Jesus announces,
"Yes, I am coming quickly." Revelation 22:20
We find this kind of language used in other ways too, but there is not enough time to barely scratch the surface with these various passages. So, keeping all of this in mind, we notice that James continues with terms of immediacy, while warning Christians how to act, saying,
"9 Do not complain, brothers, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door." James 5:9
The Israelite Christians are encouraged to be patient toward church members who irritate them. When James says that the brothers are not to complain, James uses the Greek word Stenazete. This word commonly means to groan, or to sigh, as if from inner distress. When we think of complaining, we typically think of grumbling and murmuring. But this word is the kind of complaining that is like groaning because of deep inner bitterness and resentment that is smoldering inside. To continue this kind of thing is not something to be taken lightly. What James is saying is that this complaining against one another actually results in judgment. Therefore it is not innocent, and it is not justifiable to do this. Further, they need to be careful. The Judge is represented as standing at the door, as if His hand is on the door knob. He is ready to enter into their midst at any moment. The expectation should be like this: Jesus is about to pop the door open and say "Surprise!," and the surprise is real if you are acting like a divisive, carnal, bitterly complaining Christian who is tearing down the body of Christ rather than building it up in the fruits of the Spirit as the true children of God who will be left on earth as God's covenant focus from now on. On the other hand, Christ will not have mercy on the unsaved who bitterly complain against Christ, Christianity, and the true children of God, which are the brothers and sisters of the church. Their judgment will be swift and horrible. Jesus made a first reference to this readiness at the door in Matthew 24,
"32 Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." Matthew 24:32-34
What they need is patience. What we all need is patience as we live out our Christian lives each and every day. Christians today, according to deep eschatology, need patience in awaiting the coming of the Lord too. But think about this for a moment: It is so easy to be impatient as we get all wrapped up in the temporal affairs of everyday life. We long for glory. We long for something better. But we need to be patient, and while we are patiently awaiting glory, we need to be recognizing the beauty of the glory of the body of Christ--the church. Instead of complaining against one another, we need to be about complementing one another, and serving one another, and helping one another in all of our weaknesses, shortcomings, failures, and even triumphs. Life is short, even though the days seem long. What God wants you and me to do is redeem the time, and we are only going to do this now if we have the eternal perspective now. Love the body. Love your neighbor. And in the meantime, be patient as you await the end.
James gives various examples of patience to consider. The first is the farmer. It is a long process. The farmer waits for the produce that is valuable. In the Palestinian area the rains of autumn were necessary for the sown seed to get its start. Later, the spring rains were needed for the crop to mature. The valuable crop comes from the soil, but this means that after the seed is planted there is a waiting period of month after month after month before the precious produce can be harvested. Essentially, once the seed is planted, there is nothing else we can do except be patient and wait, even through the suffering of persecution. James gives another example of patience,
"10 As an example, brothers, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured." James 5:10-11
When we think of all of God's prophets throughout history and the constant persecution, pain, and sorrow that they had, we know that their lives were marked by depression, and discomfort, but they knew their God, and so their lives were also marked by patience. They endured, and so they were blessed. We want to endure and be blessed. In fact, the testing of our faith produces the endurance that brings the blessing. Jesus preached in his great sermon on the mount,
"12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:12
Directly before teaching concerning the end of Jerusalem, in Matthew 23, Jesus indicted the scribes and Pharisees by saying,
"29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ... 34 Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city," Matthew 23:29-32
Some of God's prophets, wise men and scribes were kill and crucified in that generation. Some of them were scourged in the synagogues of the wicked scribes and Pharisees. Some of them were persecuted from city to city. Ever since then, God's people have been maligned, hated, ridiculed, sometimes beaten, sometimes killed for Christ. Prophets all through the history of the world spoke in the name of the Lord, and this is what we need to be doing too. To speak in the name of the Lord is going to bring suffering, but like the prophets of old, we should not retreat and refuse to speak forth the truths of God in our day. It is so easy to become focused upon the trials and the persecutions. In other words, let me ask a question:
Isn't it easy to focus upon what people think about us when it is negative?
Now think about this, when we focus on the negative things that people think about us, we would rather be away from it all; right? But when we think that way, we are not aware of the fact that we are in the greatest place of ministry that there is. But lack of patience in what God is doing will keep you from seeing what God is doing. Persecution has always been the early and latter rains that water the soil of ministry until the end. We need to be living these truths of God as expressions of the living reality of Christ in our lives. We need to be teaching them to our children. We need to be teaching our children to endure persecution from the world because the world is different from us. We need to teach them early on to expect to be ridiculed for living godly in our wicked generation. We need to teach our children to always understand that the outcome of it all is an eternal weight of glory that is unsurpassed by anything we can experience in this world. James is encouraging with this same kind of hope. He goes on, and he finishes this point with,
"You have heard of the endurance [steadfastness] of Job and have seen the outcome [purpose] of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."
What is interesting about the life of Job is that Job was a rich man, but then the Devil came along and wiped out his family, his riches, and Job's health. Day after day, Job laid out in the desert with boils on his body that were so infected that he had worms in the sores. Job would scrape his sores with pot sherds in his affliction. It is amazing how much pain and anguish Job went through. At one point, Job's wife said to Job to just curse God and die. Job would not do it. Do you lack patience?; then consider Job. Job's friends came to Job. They were the prosperity preachers of their day. They told Job that if Job had been a righteous man, then none of the affliction would have come upon him. But, they were wrong. The afflictions came upon Job by the devil because Job was a righteous man, and it was God who knew this, and so God suggested Job to the devil. Job ended up praying for his friends who were full of advice, (Job 42:10) and in the end, God gave Job back his health, multiplied his riches, and gave him a large family once again. But in the meantime, Job experienced pain and loss beyond what most of us can barely imagine. Yet, Job was patient. Job trusted God, but Job trusted God in the midst of the tribulation.
Today, we all know that Jesus is always faithful. He was faithful in the generation of James. He is faithful today. We also know that the Bible is faithful as the word of God. The Bible writers did not write huge volumes of doctrinal material, and were right about everything except the immanency passages. The Bible is full of promises and they are always fulfilled. Jesus always keeps His promises to us. Because Jesus is faithful to keep His promises, His predictions in the Olivet Discourse came true, which is a simple demonstration of how the word of God can and should be trusted. We should all be comforted in this classic fact of Christianity--the not so deep eschatology of the first century that was fulfilled in that day after the rainy seasons. If Jesus expected His people during the first generation period to have the ability to be patient through the power of the Spirit, then we today, who live in the fullness of the New Covenant certainly can be patient during times of hardship, stress, fatigue of the world, and persecution. Jesus dwells amongst us, and in us, spiritually, and so we are not alone. God has given us His Holy Spirit, and patience is a fruit of the Spirit,
"22 ... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, ..." Galatians 5:22
According to deep eschatology, Jesus may, in fact, come back again in our day. It would be great if Christ came back again today. But, if He does not, we must be patient. According to the legacy of history, we are all nearing an end that has been shown to be consistent. The end I am talking about is death. It has often been said, that the only sure things are death and taxes. There may be such a thing as a death tax, but you won't pay it when you are gone. If Christ comes back, then death won't matter. If Christ does not come back in your lifetime, then death awaits you anyway. Either way, it is the end. It is the end of the curse, and it is the beginning of the blessing of a changed and resurrected life in a glorious state forever.
I urge all of us here to quit complaining in needless, destructive criticism of your brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. I urge us all to abide in our short lifetimes in a spirit of grace and patience as we await the end, whether it be the coming of the Lord, or it be the day of our death. Either way, the old will pass away, the new will come, where the body of Christ, and the Lord will be our companions forever and ever. Won't that be glorious? Then look forward to it.
