James Expounds on Faith Volume 52

 Patience in Suffering Part 1

James 5:7-8 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle James now begins to exhort, excite, and encourage those Jewish believers (as well as we believers today and all believers from every era and generation) in our Lord Jesus Christ scattered into many different places from their homeland of Jerusalem by virtue of intense persecution (James 1:1) to be patient, that is, to be long patient or to suffer with long patience. The Apostle begins by giving them a Word Picture 🖼 as an example of what patient endurance will yield for them and for us when our Great God and King 👑 Jesus Christ shall appear, as it is written with these words, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain." (James 5:7) (KJV). Patience is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, as it is written, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering/patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23) (NKJV). This heavenly/divine patience cannot be worked up by any of us by our flesh, but it is only truly manifested in us when we are yielding to God the Holy Spirit in obedience and faithfulness. Just like every good farmer knows that when he plants his or her 🌱 seeds, that there is no quick or instant harvest that can be expected, but a long germination, that is, the process whereby seeds or spores sprout and begin to grow. Likewise, those early Jewish believers in our Lord Jesus Christ (and we believers to day and of every era and generation) must exercise long patience as we travel the highway to our heavenly home wrought with many obstacles, objection, and obstinacy from the people of this world still blinded by the lies of the devil 😈, as it is written, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) (NKJV) and also these words, "But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age (the devil 😈) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the Image of God, should shine on them." (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) (NKJV), for because of them still being blinded by the devil 👿 they will do us violence and kill many of us by drugging our food and water and kill us with guns and knives and con us and swindle us and mock us and vandalize the things we are steward over and lie to us and try to manipulate us and on and on because of their blind hatred for our Lord Jesus Christ whom we belong to by repentance and faith. Here is what Vincent's Word Study had to say of James 5:7, "It is a patient holding out under trial; a long-protracted restraint of the soul from yielding to passion, especially the passion of anger. In the New Testament the word and its cognates are sometimes rendered by patient or patience, which conceals the distinction from ὑπομονή, uniformly rendered patience, and signifying persistent endurance, whether in action or suffering. As Trench observes, 'ὑπομονή is perseverantia and patientia both in one.' Thus Bishop Ellicott: 'The brave patience with which the Christian contends against the various hindrances, persecutions, and temptations that befall him in his conflict with the inward and outward world.' Ὑπομονή. contains an element of manliness."

Next, the Apostle James gives those Jewish believers back then a word of knowledge, as it is written with these words, "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." (James 5:8) (KJV) that was most definitely given to him by God the Holy Spirit, as it is written, "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit," (1 Corinthians 12:8) (NKJV) and that word of knowledge was that God was coming soon to destroy Jerusalem and so did it happen around 70 A.D. by Titus the Emperor of Rome; son of Vespasian (39-81). As it pertains to all of us true believers today and of every era and generation our Lord Jesus will come at each of our deaths and He will come at the Rapture of all true believers prior to the great tribulation, so in any case we must 'stablish' our inner man 👨 and inner woman 👩 and this English word is translated by the Greek word stērizō meaning to set fast, that is, (literally) to turn resolutely in a certain direction, or (figuratively) to confirm: - fix, establish, stedfastly set, strengthen. In other words, we must see our earthly pilgrimage and sojourn as us travelling in a land (the earth 🌎) that has land mines all around us and yet we must be fixed and stedfast and resolute and 💪 strengthened by the power of God to continue to travel no matter the many landmines of potentially being murdered, for our death is only a ushering of us into the awaiting and loving arms of our Great Savior Jesus Christ, as it is written, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14) (NKJV) and we should remember who our Brother Stephen saw as he was being murdered by the very same type of people alive today who want to do the same thing to everyone of us who belong to the same Lord Jesus as Brother Stephen, "When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!' Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep/died." (Acts 7:54-60)(NKJV). Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of James 5:8, "Be you also patient. Establish your hearts - let your faith be firm, without wavering, your practice of what is good constant and continued, without tiring, and your resolutions for God and heaven fixed, in spite of all sufferings or temptations. The prosperity of the wicked and the affliction of the righteous have in all ages been a very great trial to the faith of the people of God. David tells us that his feet were almost gone, when he saw the prosperity of the wicked, Psalms 73:2-3. Some of those Christians to whom St. James wrote might probably be in the same tottering condition; and therefore they are called upon to establish their hearts; faith and patience will establish the heart." Here also is what Dr. John Gill had to say of James 5:8, "As well as the husbandman, and like him; and wait for the rains and dews of divine grace to fall, and make fruitful, and for the ripe fruit of eternal life; and in the mean while cheerfully and patiently bear all injuries, and oppressions: stablish your hearts; though the state of the saints is stable, they being fixed in the everlasting love of God, in the covenant of grace, in the hands of Christ, and on the rock of ages; yet their hearts are very unstable, and so are their frames, and the exercise of grace in them, and need establishing, which God's work; which is often done by the means of the word and ordinances; and these the saints should make use of, for the establishing of their hearts: the sense may be, take heart, be of good cheer, do not be dismayed, or faint, or sink under your pressures, but be of good courage, pluck up your spirits, lift up your heads: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh; when he will render tribulation to them that trouble them, free them from all their sorrows and afflictions, and enter them into the joy of their Lord; which will be either at death, which was not very far off, or at the last day, which was drawing nearer and nearer, and which with God was near; with whom a thousand years are as one day."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…