Learning How to Live in Perseverance
Text: James 5: 9-12
Proposition: Godly perseverance, established from the truth that Christ is coming again soon, is the heart of thanksgiving.
Introduction: There’s a story of a man who came to his rabbi and complained that life was becoming intolerable. He said that his brothers in law had moved into his home and now there were nine of them in one room. The rabbi listened carefully then told the man to go out and buy a goat and bring the goat into the house and keep it there for one week. With great misgivings the man did this and came back to the rabbi a week later. The rabbi asked how things were going and heard the complaints of crowding now complicated by a stinking goat. “Get rid of the goat”, said the rabbi, “and come back again next week”. When the man returned he was full of thanksgiving for how great things were now that the goat was gone. Thanksgiving can be an appreciation for an improved quality of life but it can embrace much larger things as well. As we begin this New Year let’s look at thanksgiving from a slightly different perspective, to see it not as an event but as a life style. Here’s the line of thinking that I’d like to explore: Thanksgiving as a life style is really an expression of godly perseverance which comes from knowing that Christ is soon to return. Like falling dominos, if you knock out a knowledge and earnest awareness that Christ is coming again, you knock out godly perseverance, which takes with it the lifestyle of thanksgiving. Consider this, there are an estimated 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ—an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are 8 which look forward to His second!Listen to how this sounds as we read James 5, verses 7 to 12 and then we’ll look at this with greater detail.
I. That the Second Coming is Imminent is a Cause for Thanksgiving.James states that we should not complain against one another for the Judge is right at the door, the thought being not only is He very present to hear such complaining, He is about to walk into the room. It would seem that no matter what your particular view is, whether it is based on covenantal agreements that God has made or based on periods of testing according to revealed knowledge, all agree that Christ is coming again soon. All would agree that God the Father is sovereign in the choosing of that moment. All would also agree that the second coming of Christ is about two things primarily: the issue of judgment and the completion of God’s kingdom. Why are these imminent things a source of thanksgiving to us? Consider the issue of judgment upon the church where the judgment is not for sin in regards to whether we are saved or not. The work of Christ is completed by the cross and the action of faith has secured that forgiveness of sin. The issue of judgment for the church is for determining their reward or loss of it. The imminent nature of Christ’s coming calls us to always be ready, to not coast, to make the most of the time that we have. For this we are thankful for each of us is prone to the great lie that all will continue just as it has. Here are some of the areas in which we will be judged and rewarded:
1. How we handled the mysteries of God, Paul describes it as being a steward of Christ and of the mysteries of God in 1 Corinthians 4:1-5. How well have we grasped and employed the word of God, have we been workmen that need not be ashamed in the way we have handled the word? There is reward for this.
2. How have we handled our material possessions, Galatians 6:9 calls us to not lose heart in doing good for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
3. How we have been used of God to lead others to faith in Christ… Paul says that they will be his crown when he stands before Christ in 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20.
4. How we endure or persevere in an evil world will also be rewarded, see Matthew 5:11,12. Knowing that Jesus seeks to find us faithful, that He equips and empowers us to glorify God and that He is cheering us on in all these things stirs up our thanksgiving.
II. Thy Kingdom Come is a Cause for Great Thanksgiving. James points out that the prophets of old demonstrated great perseverance which cues us to the fact that they too looked to the coming of God to culminate their struggles. Moses wrote of a time when God would restore Israel and make them a favored nation over all the Gentile nations, destroying those who were against God, Deut.30:1-10. David wrote a Psalm about how God would place His king upon Mount Zion and how that king would rule with a rod of iron in Psalm 2. Isaiah talks about a time when God will bring about a great judgment and a time of wonderful redemption, Isaiah 63:1-6. Daniel described a time when God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed in Daniel 2:44, 45. Time and again the prophets called the people to see the coming kingdom of God as both a time of deliverance for Israel and destruction of their enemies forever. You can see why the coming of God’s kingdom was a source of great thanksgiving for these people, but why should it still be so for us? Here’s a few reasons:
1. It’s the desire of God for us to be with Him (John 14). The second coming is really two events, the coming of Christ for His church (1 Thess. 4:13-18) which we call the rapture of the church and coming of Christ to rule the earth. In the first event Christ will appear in the sky and draw those who are His to Himself. It involves the resurrection of the bodies of those Christians who have previously died and the transformation of the body, soul and spirit of those Christians presently alive. They will be caught up in the air with Christ, the bride going to her groom. The second event is the physical coming of Christ to the earth to judge and to rule, this second part was primarily what the Old Testament prophets saw and proclaimed. It was the picture of God bringing justice to earth and dwelling with man there. The main thought through all this process is simply, “that where I am you may be also”. Does that make you want to be thankful?
2. It’s the desire of God to consistently accomplish what He promised. The deliverance of Israel, the judgment of the wicked, the establishing of a sinless, righteous, kingdom, where every man’s heart would long after God always… God is faithful and He will accomplish these things at the second coming of Christ. Does that make you thankful?
3. It’s the desire of God to complete the first things and cause the new things to be. To this end God will complete the destructive work of Satan which He has permissively allowed, bringing an end to Satan and all the demons. He will complete the existence of mortality and the sin which brought it about. He will complete the vain purposes of man to subsist and survive and will introduce him to eternal job descriptions. He will complete the heavens and the earth as we know them and bring about a new heaven and a new earth. He will complete the process of faith and the hope of glory by being our present and visible God where we are known instantly even as we know, no longer through a glass darkly. Does that make you thankful?
Godly perseverance, established from the truth that Christ is coming again soon, is the heart of thanksgiving.