Latest / Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self / 17.16 - James 5:7-12 - Be Patient, Loving, and Forthright

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17.16 - James 5:7-12 - Be Patient, Loving, and Forthright · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  We hope that this podcast will help you to know Christ, grow in
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  his word and show his love to others.
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  Let's dive right in. Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk.
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  And today we are in James chapter 5 and verses 7 through
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  12, James 5, seven through 12, the pastor of the Church of
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  Jerusalem and the half brother of Jesus, James.
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  He is writing to some people that used to be a part of his
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  congregation. Now they're all across the Roman
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  Empire as a result of persecution.
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  And here at the end of the book, he is encouraging them to be
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  patient, both with their circumstances and he's
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  encouraging them to be patient and loving and kind with each
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  other. And so let's read through our
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  verses for today and I believe it'll be an encouragement to
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  you. And I'm looking forward to this
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  time together in verse #7. Therefore, brothers and sisters,
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  be patient until the Lord's coming.
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  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and
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  his patient with it until it receives the early and the late
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  rains. You also must be patient.
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  Strengthen your hearts because the Lord's coming is near.
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  Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another so
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  that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the
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  door. Brothers and sisters, take the
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  prophets who spoke in the Lord's name as an example of suffering
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  and patience. See, we count as blessed those
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  who have endured. You have heard of Job's
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  endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought
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  about. The Lord is compassionate and
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  merciful above all. My brothers and sisters, do not
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  swear neither by heaven or by earth or with any other oath,
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  but let your yes mean yes and your no mean no so that you
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  won't fall under judgment. All right?
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  There's a couple of different things that play that we're
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  going to see together. And first of these is in verse
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  #7 where James encourages the believers to be patient.
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  And he says with one specific end goal in mind.
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  It's not just be patient for the sake of patients, but we are
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  patient. We, we deal with, we endure
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  hardship. We don't bring down the hammer
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  for a reason, and it is because Jesus is coming back and he says
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  be patient until the Lord's coming.
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  There is a day when your patience with other people, your
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  patience with your spouse, your patience with your neighbors,
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  your patience at your job, it is going to pay off.
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  And he gives the example here of a farmer that a farmer plants
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  some seeds and he waters it. He might weed, you know, he'll,
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  he'll do different irrigation things.
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  He's maybe putting up some fences or some wire or something
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  to try and or a scarecrow to try and keep away birds or animals
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  that would want to try and get to this planted fruit until he's
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  trying to guard it. So that, but it's it survives.
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  And he says the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth
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  and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late
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  rains. So he says this just as a farmer
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  is planting and he's waiting and he's protecting, looking forward
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  to a specific time. So you and I, when we are
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  patient here on this earth, we do so planting a seed that is
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  going to come to fruition when Jesus returns, that we will be
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  rewarded for our obedience to the Lord in this area.
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  That he will say, well done, you good and faithful servant.
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  You didn't fly off the handle. You didn't react with harshness.
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  You didn't react in a unspiritual, wrathful, angry,
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  bitter way. Instead, you patiently endured
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  what you were going through. I know I've got some of my
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  friends that listen to this and you have some health struggles.
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  And I want you to know that the patience that you are exercising
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  right now, that you are still choosing to believe in Jesus and
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  to trust in Him even through your physical hardships, God
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  sees that. And either when Jesus returns or
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  when you go to meet the Lord, there is going to be a heavenly
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  reward from the King of kings for the patience that you have
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  shown. And if you will from this verse,
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  the patience that you have sown SOWN, God views that as
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  valuable. And it's because patience is a
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  fruit of the Holy Spirit taking up residence within your heart
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  and life. And so when you allow the Holy
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  Spirit to work, God will bless that.
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  So want to encourage you, whether it's in circumstances,
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  keep on going through, don't give up.
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  Don't give up on the Lord. Don't give up on exercising your
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  faith. Keep on doing it because the
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  harvest time is coming. So keep on watering.
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  Keep on wedding. It's worth it.
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  Keep on going. Verse #8 James says.
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  You also must be patient, strengthen your hearts because
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  the Lord's coming is near. So we're commanded to be
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  patient. It's not an option.
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  And he says to strengthen your hearts, this would be to take
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  courage. It it means that you need to
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  have a firm resolve in light of Jesus's return and in spite of
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  trying circumstances. He says this you will naturally
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  want to give up. Don't allow what is natural to
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  you to be what determines your actions.
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  Instead, volitionally choose. I'm going to take courage.
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  I think of David when, well, we don't have time to go into the
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  whole story, but at one point all of his, his wives, his kids,
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  his stuff, his men's wives and kids and all of their stuff, it
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  was all taken away from their city.
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  Their city was burned down and the men wanted to kill David.
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  And Scripture says that David encouraged himself in the Lord
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  his God, recognizing that Jesus is going to come back,
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  recognizing that one day you're going to be in front of him.
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  Make that affect how you act today.
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  Let that strengthen your resolve, give you courage to
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  face whatever it is that you are facing today and whatever's
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  coming tomorrow, because you know, it's not going to be long.
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  I, I've got some of my friends on here.
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  I know that are, I think I've got at least one friend who's in
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  his 80s right now. And I know he has told me
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  before, like, man, life goes by so quick.
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  You know, one day you're just starting off and maybe you're
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  getting married, maybe you're having kids.
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  And then just a blink of an eye and you turn around and your
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  whole life is behind you and you are that much closer to being in
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  the presence of Jesus. So allow that to encourage you
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  that when you have that resolve of patience, you're not giving
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  up, you're not going to lash out, you're not going to quit.
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  Realize, OK, reward day is coming.
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  I was one that I love getting good grades in school.
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  And so I was always working as hard as I possibly could so that
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  when there was, you know, a, a grading of a test or of a
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  project, that that there would be an A on that for me.
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  And I wanted to get as close to perfect as I could.
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  And so as I approach the day where I'm reunited with my
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  Savior, I want that passing grade.
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  I want to hear well done you good and faithful servant.
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  Then James takes kind of a a different aspect of this in
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  verse 9. He says brothers and sisters do
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  not complain about one another so that you will not be judged.
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  Look, the judge stands at the door, or as the new Living
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  Translation puts it, don't grumble about each other,
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  brothers and sisters, or you will be judged for Look, the
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  judge is standing at the door here.
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  James says this. A lot of times we think if we
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  are rude to someone's face that that would be maybe a sin.
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  Although I know some people, that's well, I know human
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  nature. I'm not saying I know an
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  individual that would do this. I know human nature.
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  Very rarely do we ever take ownership for the words that we
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  say. And it's like, oh, no, that
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  wasn't gossip. I was just sharing a concern
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  with someone that could not do anything about it.
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  Or we might say, you know, maybe when we were rude to someone's
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  face, be like, oh, no, I'm just direct.
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  And I, I just don't beat around the Bush.
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  I'm just up front. It's like, all right, it is that
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  that's not how it really works here.
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  James commands us, don't complain about one another.
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  This can be so easy here. He's writing in a church
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  context. It can be easy within the local
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  church. All of us have people that we
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  kind of naturally gravitate to that we've got a similar
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  personality to, and so we just get along fantastically with
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  them as opposed to sometimes there are people that our
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  personalities don't really match up, but God has placed us within
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  in the same church body and we can have an opportunity in those
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  moments to go this person, she's always complaining and you're
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  complaining about the other person's complaining.
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  We can be like, oh man, this person just drives me nuts.
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  I'd never say anything to him about it, but this person just
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  drive me, drives me nuts. Let's not do that.
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  That is sin. That is wrong and and I'll just
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  like, you know, kind of pull the curtain back a little bit on on
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  the pastoral side of things for you guys.
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  A temptation that Satan wants me to embrace is complain about
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  your like your church members complain about them, just become
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  embittered at them. Because here's the deal.
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  As a pastor, there's sometimes where people say or do things
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  that are not godly. And in those moments, Satan
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  wants to twist that, that instead of me getting the heart
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  of Jesus, of I'm going to love and care for and try and like
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  shepherd and correct and restore and put back on the right path
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  and bring people back together. Satan wants me to go, oh, well,
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  you should just like despise them and wish they were gone.
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  And you should even complain about that person to another
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  person in the church. And you can be the source of it.
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  And you can just be like, oh, this is just a like quote, UN
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  quote, pastoral concern, but you're not bringing it to that
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  person. You're just bringing it to some
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  other random person in the body. And that's not right.
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  And when Satan wants me to do that, I've got to say, no,
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  absolutely not. I'm not going to complain about
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  my brothers and sisters. If I've got an issue, I'm going
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  to go to them. I'm going to love them and I'm
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  going to choose to be thankful that God placed them within this
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  church because God has a reason for every single member of a
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  church that is there. That's what we read in First
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  Corinthians 12. The nose can't say to the ear.
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  Oh, I don't need you. Paul goes at length about that
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  in First Corinthians 12. So don't complain about one
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  another. If we complain about each other,
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  God will judge us and he James kind of puts the the pedal to
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  the metal a little bit on this so that we would realize the
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  seriousness of this. He says you're not just going to
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  be judged by humans. In fact, the judge stands at the
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  door that is Jesus, this one that is coming.
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  He will not only reward patients, he will judge your
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  complaining about that other person at church that you don't
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  really like. So let us not complain about one
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  another. Let us love one another.
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  Let's be patient with each other.
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  Whenever Satan wants to bring up a spirit of complaining in you
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  or an I, let's say no, absolutely not.
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  Like Jesus loves me and I know who I am.
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  I know my faults. And so I'm going to choose to
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  love others even when they have faults because Jesus does.
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  And that's how Jesus has treated me and that's how I'm going to
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  treat them. Verse #10 Brothers and sisters,
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  take the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name as an example of
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  suffering and patience. When you look at the Old
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  Testament and you see how the prophets of the Lord were
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  treated many times they were killed, they were not listened
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  to, they were harmed, they were driven out.
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  Like it was not a popular thing to be a true prophet of Yahweh
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  in the Old Testament. And James calls to mind for
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  these believers who grew up reading the Old Testament.
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  He says when it comes to suffering and patience and being
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  treated wrong and how you respond to it, respond like the
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  Old Testament prophets did. And then he gives an example of
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  someone, and I believe this would be, oh, I, I don't
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  remember how the exact breakdown of the Hebrew Old Testament, how
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  they had it at this time where what they called the Tanakh,
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  that is the Torah, which is the first five books of the Old
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  Testament. Then they had the Nevaeem, which
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  they called the the prophets. And that was the former and
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  latter prophets, which was kind of from, if you will, about
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  judges to second kings and then from Isaiah through the end of
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  the minor prophets, more or less.
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  And then you had the the Ketuvim, which was a smattering
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  of the books of poetry, as well as a couple different prophets
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  like Daniel and some of that. So here Job would be one that
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  though he's not one we normally think of as a prophet, he was
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  one that communicated with God and prayed for others and
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  communicated with them. And so James here calls to mind
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  Job. He says, see, we count as
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  blessed those who have endured, or again, as the New Living
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  Translation puts it, we give great honor to those who endure
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  suffering. For instance, you know about
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  Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was
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  kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and
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  mercy. And so James says, look at Job's
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  life. And even though Job went through
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  crazy hardship unlike anything that we will ever experience,
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  even in his story, God was compassionate and merciful and
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  kind to him. And so we can believe that we
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  serve this same God who even in our hardships, he allows us to
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  have endurance so that our faith is made mature, so that we can
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  then experience the reward of the goodness of God at the end
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  of our time of suffering. So he says, don't give up.
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  Look at Job. Look at what Job received after
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  suffering. So we can go through suffering
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  as well, knowing that we serve the God of Job.
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  And then last verse for today's verse 12.
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  Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear neither by
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  heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes
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  mean yes and your no mean no so that you won't fall under
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  judgement. This is a command to honesty and
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  to forthrightness. So here's what would happen
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  during this time. Jesus deals with this in the
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  Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, verses 33 to 37.
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  So someone would say, Oh yeah, you know, I'll, I'll get that
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  done. I'll, I'll get this, you know,
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  work, job done. I'll, I'll build that cabinet
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  by, you know, Thursday. You know, I, I swear it by
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  heaven. There was a command in the Old
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  Testament where God's people were specifically told like,
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  hey, whatever promises that you say, listen, God, I, I, I, I
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  promise to God, I swear to God that I'm going to do this.
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  Moses told them, whatever you swear to God, you have to do
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  that or God will judge you. Like if you say God is my
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  witness, you are then held accountable to God.
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  This isn't something you can do flippantly.
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  This is something that actually means something.
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  So then people would find ways to kind of circumvent that.
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  So they would, instead of saying like, oh, I swear by God, I'll
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  have it done by Thursday because then they knew they'd be in
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  condemnation. They would just say, Oh, yeah, I
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  swear by heaven. And then, you know, Friday
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  morning rolls around. They're like, hey, you said this
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  would be done by Thursday, and you promised by God.
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  And they're like, oh, no, no, I promised by heaven.
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  Or they would say like, oh, I swear by the temple.
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  Kind of same thing. It was a way to circumvent being
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  honest and forthright and being held accountable to your
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  actions. It was just finding ways to be
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  dishonest or skirt around it or why you really didn't mean what
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  you said and you actually meant something different.
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  It it's just not being forthright with others.
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  And so here James says the same thing Jesus says in the Sermon
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  on the Mount, which was don't, don't play those games.
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  Just when you say yes, I'm going to have that done by Thursday
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  actually mean I'm going to have it done by Thursday says let
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  your yes mean yes and your no mean no so that you won't fall
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  under judgement. So from the beginning of these
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  verses, we have be patient. Be patient in your circumstances
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  and in your relationships. Don't complain about other
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  believers and be forthright. Be truthful in your
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  communication with other people. Don't kind of hedge.
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  Don't kind of hedge and, and, and make it so that you can
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  have, you know, somewhat plausible deniability at the end
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  of it and be like, oh, I never said that.
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  I actually said this thing that could easily be misconstrued,
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  misconstrued as having said that.
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  Let us be forthright, honest, patient, loving people.
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  And as we do so, we recognize Jesus is coming back and He will
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  reward us for that faithfulness. Thanks for tuning in, have a
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  great day.