Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Be Patient Brothers, Until The Coming Of The Lord

Continuing to look at the warnings of James, we find a warning I do not ever remember hearing a preacher teach. That is, we are not to "complain about each other, brothers, or you will be condemned." Meanwhile countless teachers tickle the ears and do not warn the body of Christ, the believers, of sin. As I looked at the commentators, I did not find anything positive about being condemned.  

This passage makes me pause and judge my self as to whether this sin could be in me. No matter what troubles are in our lives, we must not complain about others having things good. We look for an eternal home which will make this period of time a "nothing".

James 5 ISV

7So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop from his land, being patient with it until it receives the fall and the spring rains. 8You, too, must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is near. 

9Do not complain about each other, brothers, or you will be condemned. Look! The Judge is standing at the door! 

10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11We consider those who endured to be blessed. You have heard about Job’s endurance and have seen the purpose of the Lord—that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
5:7-11 Consider him that waits for a crop of corn; and will not you wait for a crown of glory? If you should be called to wait longer than the husbandman, is not there something more worth waiting for? In every sense the coming of the Lord drew nigh, and all his people's losses, hardships, and sufferings, would be repaid. 

Men count time long, because they measure it by their own lives; but all time is as nothing to God; it is as a moment. To short-lived creatures a few years seem an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, reckons thousands of years but so many days. 

God brought about things in Job's case, so as plainly to prove that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy. This did not appear during his troubles, but was seen in the event, and believers now will find a happy end to their trials. Let us serve our God, and bear our trials, as those who believe that the end will crown all. Our eternal happiness is safe if we trust to him: all else is mere vanity, which soon will be done with for ever.


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