WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.440 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:46.120 Good morning. 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:49.080 Glad that you guys are here with us today. 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:53.420 If you've got your Bibles, going to open them up to James chapter 5. 00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:56.960 In just a moment, we'll start reading in verse 7. 00:00:57.480 --> 00:01:02.540 As you turn there, I want to remind everybody, shared this last week, but on Sunday, December 00:01:02.540 --> 00:01:07.060 the 4th, we're going to have missions Sunday here at Willow Ridge Church, Sunday morning 00:01:07.060 --> 00:01:13.760 and Sunday evening activities built around looking at what God is doing all over the world 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.460 and how each one of us have a role and a part to play in that. 00:01:18.460 --> 00:01:19.600 I'm very excited. 00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:25.280 We've got a dear friend of mine who's going to be here to speak with us, to teach from 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:29.340 God's Word, to preach on Sunday morning, to open up God's Word, to look at what it says 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:35.620 on an individual basis for all of us of what it looks like to go and to be who God is calling 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:36.700 us to be. 00:01:37.160 --> 00:01:38.340 He's not a pastor. 00:01:38.740 --> 00:01:45.940 He's a missionary who came out of the regular, everyday work life that so many of you know 00:01:45.940 --> 00:01:52.020 well and felt the Lord was calling him in a greater way to go and make disciples. 00:01:52.320 --> 00:01:55.380 And so he took a step of faith, him and his family, to do that. 00:01:55.800 --> 00:02:01.260 And now what the Lord is doing in their ministry in some of the most difficult areas, hard to 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:06.660 reach places all across the world, they're using some neat ways to bring the gospel. 00:02:06.660 --> 00:02:11.160 And he's going to be talking about a lot of that with us and teaching all of us what it 00:02:11.160 --> 00:02:12.200 means to follow the Lord. 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.780 So I want to encourage you, that morning we will have regular worship. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:17.460 He's going to open up, he's going to preach. 00:02:17.720 --> 00:02:22.040 And then Sunday night at 5 o'clock, I want to invite everyone to come back and he's going 00:02:22.040 --> 00:02:27.260 to dive more into what his ministry looks like, where they minister, how they minister, 00:02:27.660 --> 00:02:28.580 all of those things. 00:02:28.860 --> 00:02:31.340 This is for all of us at Willow Ridge Church. 00:02:31.440 --> 00:02:35.200 So what we're going to have that evening at 5 o'clock, we'll have the nursery open. 00:02:35.320 --> 00:02:39.400 Other than the nursery, we're going to bring everybody in here into the auditorium so that 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:44.280 we can talk about and all learn together of what this looks like to be on mission. 00:02:44.600 --> 00:02:48.700 So he'll get up and talk about his ministry and then we will break for just a moment, kind 00:02:48.700 --> 00:02:49.820 of have an ice cream social. 00:02:50.160 --> 00:02:53.540 And so actually at that time, we'll let parents go get their kids out of the nursery so that 00:02:53.540 --> 00:02:54.840 they can get messy with ice cream. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.840 And then we'll gather back in here for some Q&A time to give you guys opportunities to ask 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:02.600 him questions about his ministry and what God's doing. 00:03:02.720 --> 00:03:06.400 Now, I'm being very vague, I haven't said his name, I haven't said what he does, I haven't 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:10.580 said the name of his organization, I haven't said the places that they go, and that's all 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:11.280 intentional. 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:13.840 We will not share any of that publicly. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:18.100 That Sunday morning, the baptism part of the service, because we're going to have some 00:03:18.100 --> 00:03:22.480 baptisms that morning, and the worship part of the service will be live streamed. 00:03:22.480 --> 00:03:26.140 But once that happens, before he comes up on stage, we're going to cut the live feed. 00:03:26.140 --> 00:03:30.460 We won't post anything on social media, and nothing will be posted that night as well for 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:37.120 his safety, for his team safety, as he goes into literally, and as he shares the gospel 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:42.740 with literally some of the most difficult and dangerous places and people across the world. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:44.860 But he does it for the hope of the gospel. 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:50.540 So I want to encourage you to be here that night, that day, that evening, to be a part of 00:03:50.540 --> 00:03:50.760 that. 00:03:51.140 --> 00:03:56.360 A few months ago, he sent me a copy, he just finished a book, and he wrote a book under 00:03:56.360 --> 00:04:01.420 a different name, other than his name that he was given by his parents, and he's talked 00:04:01.420 --> 00:04:03.460 about all of the stories, he's going to have that available. 00:04:03.720 --> 00:04:07.160 He just sent me a copy of his Bible study that accompanies it, and I've been reading through 00:04:07.160 --> 00:04:11.980 that this week, and it's exciting, and can't wait for us to all have the opportunity to be 00:04:11.980 --> 00:04:13.680 a part and to see what God's doing. 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:17.620 So please mark that on your calendars, you're going to want to be here Sunday, December 4th 00:04:17.620 --> 00:04:20.680 for the morning, and then back at 5 o'clock that evening. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.200 Well, the last, we're in the last two weeks of James, so this week and next week, we're 00:04:26.200 --> 00:04:32.840 going to wrap this up together, and I kind of feel like these next two messages are really 00:04:32.840 --> 00:04:38.580 kind of a go into one, and if we had a whole lot of times, like if we had like an hour and 00:04:38.580 --> 00:04:41.940 a half of just me, like we could walk through that and do that together, but I'm not going 00:04:41.940 --> 00:04:45.920 to do that to y'all, right, because my stomach's already talking to me as well, and I know yours 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:49.300 probably is, so we're going to break it up over the next two weeks. 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:54.460 But as I read through this section of James, I kind of had this thought as I'm reading 00:04:54.460 --> 00:05:00.380 through, of going, it feels like a little bit in these last sections of James that we're 00:05:00.380 --> 00:05:07.980 going to look at, what James is saying is, hey, hey, one last thing, one last thing, one 00:05:07.980 --> 00:05:13.840 last thing, and it looks, if you read it, it looks like these are isolated statements that 00:05:13.840 --> 00:05:15.160 don't fit, but they do. 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:20.880 That James is writing to his audience, and there's so many things as he's being guided 00:05:20.880 --> 00:05:25.660 and led by the Holy Spirit under inspiration to write God's Word, and he's kind of pressing 00:05:25.660 --> 00:05:30.420 into, hey, one last thing, one last thing, one last thing, and it doesn't mean that they're 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:31.140 not important. 00:05:31.400 --> 00:05:32.880 In fact, the exact opposite. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.160 It means that they have great levels of importance. 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:40.520 Now, over the last couple of years, Aaron and I are kind of stepping into that new phase 00:05:40.520 --> 00:05:47.820 of parenting where it's like, hey, guys, we're going to leave you home alone for Emma and 00:05:47.820 --> 00:05:48.380 Grayson. 00:05:48.900 --> 00:05:53.820 And it may be for us to go to the grocery store, it may be for us to go out to dinner 00:05:53.820 --> 00:05:58.240 together, it may be to go over to some friend's house for us, but it never fails. 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:02.440 It feels like every time that we go out, it's like, hey, and don't forget, feed the dogs. 00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:05.220 Hey, hey, and don't forget, no one can come over. 00:06:05.940 --> 00:06:08.220 Hey, hey, don't forget, don't burn the house down, right? 00:06:08.340 --> 00:06:11.080 Like, and all of those things are important. 00:06:11.940 --> 00:06:16.160 It's not that they don't have value, it's the opposite of that. 00:06:16.520 --> 00:06:23.680 It's that they have value, and literally, as we're walking out the door, it's like, hey, 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:26.660 one last thing, one last thing, one last thing. 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:33.200 So our tendency sometimes as we read these letters in the New Testament to get to the 00:06:33.200 --> 00:06:38.400 end and see, and Paul does this, and Peter does this as well, is that when we get down 00:06:38.400 --> 00:06:43.440 to the end, it feels like they're throwing like these darts that aren't as fully unpacked 00:06:43.440 --> 00:06:47.280 as some things previously were, but it doesn't mean that they're less important. 00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:51.360 In fact, it means they have great importance, and we maybe kind of need to slow down a little 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:51.560 bit. 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:57.040 So what we're going to do is, James is writing through this, and he's now, these are commands, 00:06:57.220 --> 00:07:00.260 but I would call them more commands of encouragement. 00:07:01.460 --> 00:07:05.240 And so what he's reminding these people that are reading this is who they need to be. 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:09.000 So this week, we're going to look at being people of patience, but then next week, here's 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.540 the points already, we're going to look at being people of truth, being people of faithful 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:18.280 prayer, and being people of love as we conclude the book of James. 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:21.940 So let's read James 5, verses 7 through 11. 00:07:23.400 --> 00:07:24.200 He writes, it says, 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:53.340 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. 00:07:53.340 --> 00:07:57.260 Behold, the judge is standing at the door. 00:07:58.260 --> 00:08:03.080 As an example of suffering and patient, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the 00:08:03.080 --> 00:08:03.360 Lord. 00:08:04.460 --> 00:08:08.420 Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. 00:08:09.320 --> 00:08:16.080 You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how 00:08:16.080 --> 00:08:19.700 the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 00:08:20.320 --> 00:08:27.540 So like I said, we're going to talk about this morning, for all of us, being people of patience. 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:28.260 All right? 00:08:28.460 --> 00:08:33.440 So let's go ahead and all get on equal footing together this morning. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.760 It is hard to be patient. 00:08:36.880 --> 00:08:37.040 Amen? 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:38.860 Anybody else there with me? 00:08:39.700 --> 00:08:44.540 How many of you, y'all know I like to do this, and it may drive you crazy, but I like to do it. 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:45.000 All right? 00:08:45.800 --> 00:08:50.860 Raise your hand if you think you're an impatient person. 00:08:50.940 --> 00:08:51.420 Raise your hand. 00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:52.340 I've got mine up. 00:08:52.540 --> 00:08:54.220 I've got, let's see, I just want to kind of look around. 00:08:54.780 --> 00:08:55.300 Look around. 00:08:57.620 --> 00:09:02.880 Now, I see spouses looking at one another and nudging, and that's not what we're about. 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:03.320 All right? 00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:06.460 That's for the car ride home, not for here. 00:09:06.660 --> 00:09:08.720 It's uncomfortable for us when you do that. 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:09.000 All right? 00:09:09.160 --> 00:09:09.880 All right, you put your hands down. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:13.420 It is hard to be patient. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:19.820 But it's even more hard to be patient in certain situations than it is other situations. 00:09:19.880 --> 00:09:20.080 Right? 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:29.620 And I thought about this this week, that different situations require different levels of patience. 00:09:30.040 --> 00:09:37.060 I even wrote, like, different climates of patience in my notes this week as I thought through this. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.600 Like, some situations require, oh, that's going to be easy to be patient there. 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:43.720 I just need to do this, X, Y, Z. 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:45.400 Other errors, like, no, no, no, no. 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:47.880 This is going to be way more difficult. 00:09:48.060 --> 00:09:50.160 And so I don't even know what X, Y, and Z are. 00:09:50.160 --> 00:09:52.260 All right, I've just got to, like, suck it up and get through this. 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:54.540 So I thought of some illustrations for us, right? 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:55.100 All right. 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:58.680 So let's all journey back to being a kid, right? 00:09:58.700 --> 00:09:59.620 We love being a kid. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:01.940 Being a kid before there was technology. 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:03.120 Y'all remember that? 00:10:04.020 --> 00:10:06.000 Yeah, I saw somebody with an Etch-A-Sketch yesterday. 00:10:06.680 --> 00:10:08.520 It's like the original tablet. 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:08.860 All right? 00:10:11.140 --> 00:10:19.580 So being a kid, I remember back to, for me, it was so hard to be patient for Christmas morning. 00:10:19.580 --> 00:10:20.020 Right? 00:10:20.540 --> 00:10:21.300 It was tough. 00:10:21.540 --> 00:10:22.520 I was that kid. 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:24.120 I averaged about two hours of sleep. 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.020 I woke my parents up at 2 a.m. 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:30.620 I still wake my kids up before 4. 00:10:31.160 --> 00:10:31.460 All right? 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:33.200 I'm just that way, right? 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:41.540 But it's hard to be patient when you know and you're excited about what's going to be taking place. 00:10:42.280 --> 00:10:48.500 So from now until, from the day they write that letter, they give their Christmas list, they've got it all. 00:10:48.700 --> 00:10:50.200 Like, it's restrained. 00:10:50.260 --> 00:10:51.420 It's what patience looks like. 00:10:51.620 --> 00:10:55.280 It's restrained excitement, right? 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:56.100 For Christmas morning. 00:10:56.780 --> 00:11:01.620 And it's just trying to measure that and measure that and measure that, right? 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:03.000 So that's one climate. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:07.180 That's one type of patient versus being at a doctor's office, right? 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.740 Now, again, that's why I said without technology. 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:16.400 I was thinking about this the other day when I had to take one of my kids to the doctor, and I've never understood this. 00:11:16.460 --> 00:11:18.020 Like, you wait in the waiting room. 00:11:18.160 --> 00:11:19.920 And I know we've got people that work in doctor's offices. 00:11:20.180 --> 00:11:23.660 And please, like, answer my question about this later because I'm curious, right? 00:11:23.660 --> 00:11:35.460 Like, we're going to wait in the doctor's, in the waiting room so that we can then wait more, right? 00:11:35.760 --> 00:11:42.500 Now, for you who are growing up and you've never not had technology, here's what that looked like growing up. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:47.400 In the big waiting room, you had Sports Illustrated for kids. 00:11:48.160 --> 00:11:54.500 So you'd get that magazine from three years before, and you could flip through it, right? 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:58.000 And that was great because you had that option. 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:04.600 Then you'd go into the next room where you would wait, and there was, like, your mom's glamour magazine, right? 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:05.140 And that was it. 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:06.260 Good housekeeping, right? 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:08.160 Like, who would want to read about that? 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:08.660 That was all. 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:09.680 And so you had to wait. 00:12:09.680 --> 00:12:15.260 And so you would have go from out there of, like, well, I've at least got this magazine that I can look at 00:12:15.260 --> 00:12:20.960 to moving into the doctor's office, and what's filled with there is boredom as I wait, right? 00:12:21.660 --> 00:12:25.420 Or, or even today, right, anxiety. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:30.900 As we wonder about what's going to happen, as we wonder, a lot of kids, a lot of adults, right, are afraid of the doctor. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:33.180 So we get different levels of what it means to be patient. 00:12:33.900 --> 00:12:35.040 Be patient for Christmas. 00:12:35.780 --> 00:12:36.920 Be patient for the doctor. 00:12:37.880 --> 00:12:39.600 Adults, we're still like this, right? 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:51.740 Try to look at maybe some more of that kind of hit more to the heart of what it means to work through this world as an adult and be patient, right? 00:12:51.780 --> 00:13:01.100 Like, being patient with a child, with your child, regardless of their age, whether they're 3 or 43, 00:13:01.880 --> 00:13:08.240 to turn from their foolish decisions to the decisions that God has for them. 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:10.500 Be patient for that. 00:13:11.620 --> 00:13:23.300 You're raising, you're teaching, you're instructing, but at some point in time, I got to release and let you make the decisions and make the mistakes and learn from them. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:30.340 And as parents, right, like, that's a hard, patient process to go through. 00:13:31.680 --> 00:13:39.460 Another one, and you hear this oftentimes, is people, and they're in the job that they're in, and they're miserable, but they don't know what they're to do. 00:13:39.540 --> 00:13:43.680 They don't know if God has them there or not there, and they've got people calling them. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:51.380 They're seeing things where they can go make more money at a different location, at a different office, at a different school, right? 00:13:51.780 --> 00:13:54.980 But is the grass truly always greener on the other side? 00:13:55.920 --> 00:14:01.440 And so I'm going to be patient and endure and not jump at the first thing that comes my way. 00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:09.180 You see, so there's different areas in our life and different situations that cause us to view patience in a different aspect. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:14.860 And the Bible is very clear as we look at this concerning patience. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.860 I'm going to just read a few of these that I just grabbed this morning. 00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:22.820 They're not going to be on the screen, but the Bible sets patience as an important thing for God's people. 00:14:23.160 --> 00:14:28.960 Romans 12, 12, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 00:14:29.860 --> 00:14:37.580 Romans 8, 25, but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:44.960 Ephesians 4, 2, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bear with one another in love. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:51.780 Psalm 37, 7, be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:15:03.180 Philippians 4, 6, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to the Lord. 00:15:03.400 --> 00:15:07.520 1 Corinthians 13, 4, love is patient and kind. 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:13.560 It continues on, Isaiah 40, 31, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. 00:15:13.560 --> 00:15:26.200 And we could fill up the rest of this message by me rolling through my phone and reading verse after verse after verse from God's word where the command at its core is be patient. 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:29.060 So it's a command. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:39.700 And when you and I look at our lives and we see the levels of patience that we struggle with, right, we got to acknowledge that it's the sin that's there. 00:15:40.520 --> 00:15:51.920 And so James in this kind of recognizes that there's some different times and different areas that are going to require this different level of patience, but it's still going to be from the Lord. 00:15:51.920 --> 00:15:57.920 And so with what we just read, four times he uses the word or the form of the word patient. 00:15:58.180 --> 00:16:11.220 In the four verses we read, one time he uses the word wait, and two times he uses the word steadfast or steadfastness, which is what we see as a person waits through the situation that's there. 00:16:11.220 --> 00:16:25.380 So it's pretty clear that James isn't suggesting this as a good practice, but instead God's word commands that we be people of patience, that this is who we are. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:36.980 And that patience actually is the display of the gospel, that patience is revelation of our heart in who we are in Christ. 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:48.720 And so what James does is he gives us five different situations where he commands and encourages us to grow within us through the dependence of the Holy Spirit, patience. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.440 Because for those of us who struggle, myself included, raise my hand, right? 00:16:55.560 --> 00:17:08.040 Patience is a mark of maturity in the Christian life that most of us laugh at and chalk it up, it's no big deal, and we don't pursue. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:21.400 What James gives us and what God's word continually gives us is, as we read about patience, though, it's different than a sit down and wait patience. 00:17:21.540 --> 00:17:27.520 Now, yes, there are times where it says, be still and know that I am God, right? 00:17:27.580 --> 00:17:28.340 That's what God's word said. 00:17:28.900 --> 00:17:30.820 Command after command after command to be still. 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:41.840 And while that is a positioning of the body with what that is, is an exercise of the mind, of knowing who the Lord is. 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:54.360 And so what we find is that so many of us view patience as having to sit at the doctor's office with a dead cell phone with no magazines to read and nothing to do, 00:17:54.360 --> 00:18:08.600 and just going, I've got to endure, I've got to endure, I've got to endure, but instead there's an activity that patience requires us for us to see and for us to do as we display the gospel. 00:18:09.020 --> 00:18:13.960 So let's look at these five things that we see here in these verses in James. 00:18:14.360 --> 00:18:17.080 Number one, being patient in suffering. 00:18:17.760 --> 00:18:19.240 We're called to be patient in suffering. 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:22.000 Look at verse 7a. 00:18:23.140 --> 00:18:28.940 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. 00:18:29.860 --> 00:18:32.220 This is what James begins with. 00:18:32.300 --> 00:18:36.540 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. 00:18:36.540 --> 00:18:42.160 Now, at this time when James wrote this and when most of the New Testament was written, 00:18:42.600 --> 00:18:48.780 most of the early followers of Jesus believed that for them that Jesus was returning soon. 00:18:49.900 --> 00:18:59.880 To think beyond in their brains that there would be a church gathering some 2,000 years later was foreign to them. 00:19:00.780 --> 00:19:06.480 And they thought this return of the Lord would be sooner rather than later. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:12.900 And when you look at the writing of the apostles, while they admittedly didn't know when Jesus would return, 00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:21.160 because this is what Jesus teaches, you can draw from them this hopeful optimism, right, that Jesus was coming soon. 00:19:21.560 --> 00:19:21.980 Why? 00:19:22.300 --> 00:19:23.420 Because of suffering. 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:32.940 For them, what they faced as they walked through life and following Jesus Christ was literally a life-or-death situation, 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:34.480 a life-or-death calling. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.720 We see it over and over in the book of Acts. 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:39.660 And this is when this is written, as it dialogues through. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:40.980 And so we see this. 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:46.740 And so there's a hope and a desire because they knew that their life could be ended on this earth 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:48.520 because they were followers of Jesus. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.480 Or if not that, a level of persecution that you and I cannot understand. 00:19:53.380 --> 00:19:54.640 And so James writes this. 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:54.960 He says, 00:19:55.800 --> 00:20:09.780 And we've got to remember how James began this letter in order for us to understand where he's getting to in this letter. 00:20:11.120 --> 00:20:12.600 James 1.1. 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:21.700 James is James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:26.560 This was not a church that he's writing to that have gathered. 00:20:27.560 --> 00:20:37.380 Who came together early on one Sunday morning to come together and to fellowship and to talk about all that the Lord has done that day. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.440 To look at everything that was going on in the life of their church. 00:20:41.540 --> 00:20:45.780 To see what events they can come to and what things they can be a part of. 00:20:46.300 --> 00:20:51.480 This was a church that had experienced persecution that you and I do not live in. 00:20:51.760 --> 00:20:56.160 And it's not fair for us to even understand the level of what they faced. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:00.040 But now because of the level of persecution, they've been scattered. 00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:04.320 Their homes are no longer their homes. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:06.940 Their jobs are no longer their jobs. 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:08.140 They've been scattered. 00:21:09.580 --> 00:21:12.580 And James writes this to them. 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:13.800 Right? 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:21.220 That when Christianity formed, Christianity organized in the book of Acts very early on. 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:26.420 And it's not met with great, wonderful, what can you do to bless our community? 00:21:27.560 --> 00:21:29.580 Great, wonderful, how can you work within our schools? 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.260 Instead, it's met with resistance. 00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:37.620 It's met with persecution, specifically the religious political leaders. 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:41.580 And so we talked about this week one, kind of the timeline of what begins to happen. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:48.640 Acts chapter 4, Peter and John stand before Jewish council who threaten them if they don't stop sharing the gospel. 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:50.380 So here's what that looks like. 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:51.280 Right? 00:21:51.280 --> 00:21:56.580 If they were to do what I'm doing this morning, right? 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.000 Death, jail, this is where you're headed. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:09.100 If they were to do what you do when you talk about who Christ is with your neighbor or what Christ has done in your life. 00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:10.120 Right? 00:22:11.060 --> 00:22:13.720 Jail, death, this is where they're headed. 00:22:14.840 --> 00:22:17.580 Acts chapter 5, the apostles are arrested. 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:22.380 Acts chapter 6, Stephen, one of the first deacons, is arrested. 00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:26.560 Acts chapter 7, Stephen is executed for his faith. 00:22:26.560 --> 00:22:29.820 Acts chapter 8, we find out that there's a man named Saul. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.100 Who's been given permission to hunt, arrest, and even kill Christians. 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:36.560 And then here's what happens in Acts chapter 8. 00:22:36.900 --> 00:22:45.620 Most of the believers scatter away from Jerusalem because there's a man out there who's hunting them down. 00:22:48.600 --> 00:22:52.820 And they move to areas like Judea and Samaria. 00:22:53.740 --> 00:22:55.440 And with it, they take the gospel. 00:22:56.980 --> 00:23:00.400 And James writes this as instruction. 00:23:01.860 --> 00:23:04.420 James writes this for commands. 00:23:05.300 --> 00:23:11.720 But he also writes this as encouragement because of the suffering that they're going through. 00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:24.080 And so James says, with where you are now, the place that you don't know, facing what you face, battling through what you're battling through. 00:23:25.600 --> 00:23:26.700 Be patient. 00:23:27.840 --> 00:23:28.860 Be patient. 00:23:30.940 --> 00:23:34.620 Not be patient until someone new is elected. 00:23:37.840 --> 00:23:41.680 Not be patient until the persecution goes away. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:50.040 Not be patient until Christianity becomes mainstream and a part of culture. 00:23:51.620 --> 00:23:54.760 He says, be patient. 00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:01.580 Be patient until the coming of the Lord. 00:24:02.760 --> 00:24:06.100 Let's be honest about suffering. 00:24:07.380 --> 00:24:09.580 And let's be honest about suffering with patience. 00:24:12.320 --> 00:24:24.040 I feel sometimes that when we talk and we teach about patience in the area of suffering, what we feel, not what we say. 00:24:24.120 --> 00:24:25.280 We don't say this. 00:24:26.280 --> 00:24:31.580 But how we feel, oftentimes, is ignore the pain. 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:33.500 Ignore it. 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:35.380 Ignore the hurt. 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:37.220 Ignore the sorrow. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:39.940 Ignore the difficulty. 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:44.060 You see, that's not what God's word teaches at all. 00:24:45.260 --> 00:24:52.140 You see, suffering with patience doesn't mean that you enjoy what you're going through. 00:24:53.220 --> 00:24:57.500 It doesn't mean that in the midst of it, you go, yeah, yeah, give me more of this. 00:24:58.320 --> 00:24:59.880 I can't wait for some more. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:03.480 But being patient with suffering means this. 00:25:04.100 --> 00:25:05.700 Jesus is returning. 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:07.640 That's it. 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:09.880 That's it. 00:25:10.660 --> 00:25:13.480 What you're going through, Jesus is returning. 00:25:14.840 --> 00:25:16.500 I understand it hurts. 00:25:16.800 --> 00:25:18.300 Jesus is returning. 00:25:19.100 --> 00:25:20.840 I understand it's painful. 00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:22.380 Jesus is returning. 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:24.360 I understand there's tears. 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:26.320 Jesus is returning. 00:25:26.940 --> 00:25:28.680 I understand you don't want to be here. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:31.100 But Jesus is returning. 00:25:31.540 --> 00:25:32.720 And it's okay. 00:25:33.080 --> 00:25:34.000 Hear my heart. 00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:36.100 It's okay to want it to be soon. 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:37.600 Right? 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:39.680 Oh, Lord, come. 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:42.100 Quickly come. 00:25:43.560 --> 00:25:48.640 And that's what it means to be patient in suffering. 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.480 But also we're to be patient in entrusting. 00:25:53.080 --> 00:25:54.180 Being patient in trusting. 00:25:54.500 --> 00:25:56.480 Look at the last part of verse 7. 00:25:57.260 --> 00:26:08.280 See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. 00:26:08.280 --> 00:26:16.180 So James here uses an illustration to convey complete and total trust. 00:26:16.900 --> 00:26:17.320 A farmer. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:19.180 You know, we've talked about this. 00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:20.120 We've talked about this a lot. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:22.720 Kind of Aaron and my hobby now. 00:26:22.820 --> 00:26:26.100 It's kind of been this backyard garden thing that we've got going on. 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:28.320 And we like to grow things and do stuff. 00:26:28.380 --> 00:26:31.120 And we like to make jellies and jams and all this kind of stuff. 00:26:31.340 --> 00:26:31.660 I don't know. 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:32.820 It's weird. 00:26:32.940 --> 00:26:37.680 I feel like it embarrasses our kids sometimes with how much stuff that we have and that we're doing with this. 00:26:37.780 --> 00:26:38.880 But, you know, it's what we're about. 00:26:39.420 --> 00:26:43.480 And here's what I love about the beauty of doing this now. 00:26:43.520 --> 00:26:48.540 And I thought about this as I come from a family of farmers a long time ago that did other things. 00:26:48.620 --> 00:26:54.360 But, like, for us, when we garden, we have this beautiful thing called sprinklers. 00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:54.860 Right? 00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:57.260 It's wonderful. 00:26:58.060 --> 00:26:59.320 You know what's great about our sprinklers? 00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:00.840 Timers. 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:01.380 Right? 00:27:02.580 --> 00:27:02.820 Right? 00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:08.780 So I go out there and I'm like, when do I want to water my plants? 00:27:10.120 --> 00:27:13.420 I'm not watering them, but I'm paying for them to be watered. 00:27:13.540 --> 00:27:16.960 So the question is, when do I want to pay for these plants to get watered? 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:19.880 And so I can set that and then I can walk away from it. 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:22.600 And I know that we're good and we've got it all kind of taken care of. 00:27:22.620 --> 00:27:27.060 But that's not the situation that James is alluding to here. 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:27.640 Right? 00:27:27.760 --> 00:27:31.880 First century, it wasn't like, hey, hey, hey, Ezekiel, could you head outside and go ahead and set that timer right there? 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:32.040 Right? 00:27:32.040 --> 00:27:32.840 Get that taken care of. 00:27:32.840 --> 00:27:33.760 Like, it ain't happening. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:45.880 And so you'd sit there and you would wait patiently for the Lord to send rain, or you would wait patiently for the Lord to stop the rain. 00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:52.300 You see, in this society, too much rain and the crop would rot. 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:58.720 Too much water is a bad thing for almost every plant we grow. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:27:59.060 Right? 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:03.180 But if you have too little rain, the crop will die. 00:28:03.600 --> 00:28:06.840 Either way, too little or too much. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:16.360 And what do we end up with, we end up with a crop that does not sustain, a crop that does not grow. 00:28:16.360 --> 00:28:21.180 And let me, I don't know if you've ever tried to control rain. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:22.900 But it's difficult. 00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:31.300 It's really, really difficult to control the rain because it's impossible. 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:45.400 And so James, as he talks about patience here, gives us an illustration that's intentionally there of something that you and I and that farmer, we cannot control. 00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:51.680 The farmer cannot control when it will and when it will not rain. 00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:53.820 So what must he do? 00:28:54.860 --> 00:28:56.060 We must be patient. 00:28:57.100 --> 00:28:59.120 But what does that patience look like? 00:29:00.120 --> 00:29:01.340 I've got to trust God. 00:29:02.180 --> 00:29:10.440 The one who sins and the one who holds back the rain, that I've got to trust him. 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:16.660 So for all of us in the room, those of us who raised our hands and who didn't, I want to ask you a question. 00:29:18.020 --> 00:29:27.520 What in your life, who in your life, are you trying to hold in the palm of your hand and control them 00:29:27.520 --> 00:29:31.780 to get them to do what you need them to do? 00:29:31.780 --> 00:29:38.300 And God is saying to you, that situation, that person does not belong in your hand. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:39.560 It belongs in mine. 00:29:40.840 --> 00:29:53.800 And to be patient, to be patient is to acknowledge that, to wash your hands, to walk away and say, Lord, it's yours. 00:29:55.160 --> 00:30:02.740 And I'm going to be patient as you do what you're going to do. 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:10.020 As the one who can send the reins and as the one who can hold them back, I cannot do either. 00:30:11.660 --> 00:30:17.840 And so, Lord, this problem at work, this problem in my marriage, this problem in our home, this problem in our country, 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:22.800 this problem in our world, this person who's in rebellion, this person who's running, 00:30:22.800 --> 00:30:26.920 this person who hates me, this person who gossips, this person who does all of these things. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:29.860 Lord, I cannot do any of this. 00:30:30.180 --> 00:30:35.140 And so, Lord, I need to stop in my sin of trying to control it, Lord. 00:30:35.280 --> 00:30:37.180 And I need to trust that it's in your hands. 00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:39.520 And Lord, may your will be done. 00:30:40.360 --> 00:30:41.180 May your will be done. 00:30:42.540 --> 00:30:43.380 Be like the farmer. 00:30:44.540 --> 00:30:45.360 Be like the farmer. 00:30:46.020 --> 00:30:50.400 Next, we see being patient in relationships. 00:30:50.980 --> 00:30:52.380 Being patient in relationships. 00:30:52.580 --> 00:30:53.580 Verse 8. 00:30:55.020 --> 00:30:56.420 You also be patient. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:03.500 Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 00:31:04.420 --> 00:31:09.140 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. 00:31:09.860 --> 00:31:14.300 And behold, the judge is standing at the door. 00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:15.180 Amen. 00:31:15.340 --> 00:31:21.260 As we come into holiday season, relationships are messy, right? 00:31:22.560 --> 00:31:23.040 Yeah. 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:27.260 You got that family member that's going to be at the table in a couple days, right? 00:31:28.260 --> 00:31:31.340 If you don't know who that family member is, guess what? 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:33.220 You're that family member, right? 00:31:33.540 --> 00:31:35.200 That's the truth this morning, okay? 00:31:35.340 --> 00:31:36.300 That's who you are. 00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:40.540 Relationships are difficult, but necessary. 00:31:41.900 --> 00:31:47.800 God creates us and calls us into relationships and into community. 00:31:48.040 --> 00:31:51.440 But the problem with relationships is this, sin. 00:31:52.120 --> 00:31:52.520 Sin. 00:31:53.580 --> 00:31:53.680 Right? 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:54.220 Do you know that? 00:31:54.420 --> 00:31:58.740 Like, sometimes when you and I have a problem, even in our relationship with the Lord, 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:01.220 do you know who's got the problem? 00:32:01.940 --> 00:32:02.560 You and I do. 00:32:03.060 --> 00:32:03.740 And what's the problem? 00:32:03.820 --> 00:32:04.180 Our sin. 00:32:05.120 --> 00:32:09.780 And so when you and I have problems in our relationship, it's the same thing that's there. 00:32:10.540 --> 00:32:16.640 It's what I tell every couple that comes to me from premarital counseling is this. 00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:25.600 The number one issue that you're going to face in your marriage is the truth that you are married to another person. 00:32:26.300 --> 00:32:26.860 That's it. 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:30.460 You take two people who have sin. 00:32:30.800 --> 00:32:32.900 You take two people who are selfish. 00:32:33.380 --> 00:32:36.100 You have to take two people who want to do things their way. 00:32:36.340 --> 00:32:40.580 You've got two people with their past, their presence, their futures, their hopes, their dreams. 00:32:40.660 --> 00:32:41.780 And you're put together. 00:32:41.900 --> 00:32:48.520 And you say, now do this together, surrendering to one another and serving one another and loving each other sacrificially. 00:32:48.520 --> 00:32:51.160 And that's hard and that's difficult because we're sinful. 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:52.740 Right? 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:59.440 And it's good and God uses it and grows us and shows us so much more about who he is. 00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:07.000 And I didn't understand this when I first got married because I thought there's no way that I could ever love this woman more than I do right now. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:17.380 But almost 20 years later, the deepness of the love that's there of what God is doing and what God is growing is monumental compared to what it was 20 years ago. 00:33:17.940 --> 00:33:19.100 And it's wonderful. 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:23.580 But relationships are difficult. 00:33:24.780 --> 00:33:28.400 And so we need to be patient in relationships. 00:33:28.860 --> 00:33:32.820 We see the symptom of what kind of comes out in verse 9, not grumble against one another. 00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:34.020 Brothers, right? 00:33:34.460 --> 00:33:34.620 Right? 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:38.820 So what happens is there's conflict, there's tension, there's issues. 00:33:39.020 --> 00:33:40.120 And what do we do? 00:33:40.300 --> 00:33:42.140 We complain. 00:33:43.580 --> 00:33:44.640 And we gripe. 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:47.420 And we go to others. 00:33:48.820 --> 00:33:50.120 And we put down. 00:33:51.260 --> 00:33:52.280 And we belittle. 00:33:53.600 --> 00:33:55.740 And we speak negatively of. 00:33:56.740 --> 00:33:58.360 And that's not who we're to be. 00:33:58.460 --> 00:33:59.820 We're to be patient. 00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:04.900 You know, when it's all said and done with how we view the world, right? 00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:10.320 We see people through the lens of either you're a follower of Jesus Christ or you're not. 00:34:11.640 --> 00:34:16.600 And with that creates some interesting dynamics in dealing with relationships. 00:34:17.100 --> 00:34:20.960 So when we look at relationships with the lost, we need to come and understand. 00:34:21.120 --> 00:34:29.700 And I hope every single one of you has multiple people who do not know the Lord, who you love and are invested in their life deeply. 00:34:30.100 --> 00:34:32.760 If you don't, then I would argue you don't understand the gospel. 00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:34.900 You don't understand it. 00:34:35.560 --> 00:34:45.840 But in our relationships with those who don't know the Lord, we have to understand that our standard for them cannot be the same for the standard for us because our standard is Jesus. 00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:49.420 And their standard is not Jesus because they don't know him, right? 00:34:49.780 --> 00:34:51.440 And that creates conflict. 00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:53.740 That creates difficulty. 00:34:54.440 --> 00:34:56.860 Our relationship with those who are saved, I was thinking about this. 00:34:57.220 --> 00:35:00.820 Like, we were talking about, this was in a pastor discussion. 00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:03.860 We were talking about dealing with people as they kind of work through things. 00:35:04.100 --> 00:35:16.160 And I heard another pastor say, you know, like, if everybody were on the same maturity aspect in life, their process of sanctification, it'd be a lot easier to be in relationships. 00:35:16.500 --> 00:35:25.260 So, like, let's say, like, we all acknowledge in here that we're greedy, but we're all on the same maturity scale of working out of our greed and working toward generosity. 00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:31.780 And so, this week, we're all just going to kick greed in the teeth and knock it out of the park and then come back next week and none of us are greedy anymore. 00:35:31.940 --> 00:35:33.260 That'd be really easy, right? 00:35:33.340 --> 00:35:34.400 But that's not where we are. 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:37.620 Some of us are growing at different speeds. 00:35:37.740 --> 00:35:39.520 Some of us are growing in different areas. 00:35:39.620 --> 00:35:45.560 And so, even amongst us with where we are in life, that brings complications into relationships. 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:49.000 And so, what do we need to do? 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:54.280 We just got to be patient. 00:35:55.620 --> 00:35:58.080 We just got to be patient. 00:35:59.560 --> 00:36:00.860 Look at my brother, Johnny. 00:36:01.040 --> 00:36:04.580 So, when Johnny sees me, now, I'm going to use me as the example, right? 00:36:04.640 --> 00:36:05.560 I'm just working with you here. 00:36:05.560 --> 00:36:22.940 But, that Johnny and Johnny's love for me, when Johnny sees my struggles, that Johnny's heart is not bitter to me, but Johnny's heart toward me is patience and kindness in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:36:23.860 --> 00:36:24.020 Right? 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:25.940 You see, that's not a grumble. 00:36:27.100 --> 00:36:28.280 That's an encouragement. 00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:32.740 That's a proclamation of truth of what we have. 00:36:32.840 --> 00:36:35.420 So, we must be patient in relationships. 00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:37.740 The next one we see, right? 00:36:37.880 --> 00:36:39.480 Being patient in the gospel. 00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:41.200 Being patient in the gospel. 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:41.820 Look at verse 10. 00:36:42.380 --> 00:36:48.660 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 00:36:48.760 --> 00:36:50.100 So, James is going to use another illustration. 00:36:50.860 --> 00:36:53.340 We saw the farmer before, and now we see the prophets. 00:36:53.340 --> 00:36:58.940 So, just really quickly, maybe you were raised in church, and you hear the word prophet, and you know exactly what that means, but maybe you weren't. 00:36:58.980 --> 00:37:04.220 So, I want to just do a really small, quick explanation so that we understand what this means. 00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:12.680 That prophets were those primarily, not exclusively, were in the Old Testament who communicated God's truth to others, right? 00:37:12.680 --> 00:37:15.100 They were the mouthpiece of the Lord. 00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:19.380 And so, what they would do is kind of a two-part approach into doing this, right? 00:37:19.380 --> 00:37:22.560 They would teach God's truth of what was already known. 00:37:22.840 --> 00:37:27.100 So, very similar to what we do when we preach and proclaim the truth of God's word, right? 00:37:27.200 --> 00:37:28.840 These are not new ideas. 00:37:29.040 --> 00:37:30.020 They're not my ideas. 00:37:30.140 --> 00:37:35.980 There's God's ideas, God's word, God's law, God's truth, and we teach from that, right? 00:37:36.120 --> 00:37:37.500 And we proclaim that. 00:37:37.700 --> 00:37:43.620 So, prophets would do that, but they would also reveal God's truth that at that time was not known. 00:37:43.620 --> 00:37:58.800 And so, this is why we teach and we believe that the role of the prophet is done, that there's no new truth that God's word and God is sufficient from Genesis to Revelation, and it accompanies all that God wants, needs us to know, so that we can know him and we can take his word to others, right? 00:37:58.880 --> 00:38:00.880 So, this is the part of what we see. 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:14.340 Now, in the Bible, there's at least 133 that were mentioned in the Bible, and in Jewish culture and Jewish custom, these prophets were highly respected. 00:38:15.700 --> 00:38:18.300 When they spoke, oftentimes people were quiet. 00:38:19.460 --> 00:38:21.700 When someone said their name, you knew who they were. 00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:22.980 They were esteemed. 00:38:23.120 --> 00:38:25.020 They were looked up to. 00:38:25.780 --> 00:38:31.680 Whether you did what they said or not, there was a reverence for their position. 00:38:33.200 --> 00:38:39.780 And while this calling and this giftedness from the Lord was on a high for them, 00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:45.980 they often faced mocking, persecution, and their message was rejected. 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:48.340 Their message was rejected. 00:38:49.420 --> 00:38:58.820 So, their success was not found in how did the people respond, right? 00:38:59.720 --> 00:39:04.620 If I go out fishing, and you ask me, well, how did you do? 00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:10.580 The answer is typically is going to be, how many did I catch, or how many did I not catch, right? 00:39:11.160 --> 00:39:11.960 Well, I call it zero. 00:39:12.200 --> 00:39:13.200 Well, that's unsuccessful. 00:39:13.820 --> 00:39:14.680 Well, I call it 20. 00:39:14.860 --> 00:39:16.120 Well, that's really successful. 00:39:16.820 --> 00:39:20.120 And that's the way, oftentimes, that we view the success of the gospel. 00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:21.620 But that's not it at all. 00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:23.160 That's not it at all. 00:39:23.160 --> 00:39:29.900 What we don't see in Scripture is their success was not found in how many people responded, 00:39:30.220 --> 00:39:35.280 but their success was found in their faithfulness to the Lord to do what God had called them to do. 00:39:36.260 --> 00:39:43.520 And yes, we see times in Scripture where they speak, and you see many respond positively. 00:39:44.240 --> 00:39:47.760 But more times than not, it's the exact opposite of that. 00:39:48.580 --> 00:39:53.860 And so, they had to be extremely patient. 00:39:54.880 --> 00:40:03.000 And I believe what God's Word is teaching us is that we need to share the same level of patience as the prophets. 00:40:04.200 --> 00:40:07.440 We talked about, I hope, that you are in relationship with multiple lost people. 00:40:08.540 --> 00:40:12.440 Here's what I know, here's what I believe, and here's what God's Word teaches us. 00:40:13.080 --> 00:40:17.720 That right now, God is calling you and I to show, share, and tell others about Jesus Christ. 00:40:18.900 --> 00:40:29.520 There should be people in our life that we are actively praying toward, telling them, showing them, and sharing with them who Jesus is, 00:40:29.900 --> 00:40:33.060 what Jesus has done for us, and who we know Jesus to be. 00:40:34.420 --> 00:40:39.520 We're not necessarily called to sit down and argue all the points of every different thing in Scripture, 00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:45.280 but to share from our story who we know Jesus Christ to be as Lord and Savior of our life. 00:40:46.920 --> 00:40:51.780 And if you're going to go on that journey of obedience, here's what I know. 00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:53.580 You've got to be patient. 00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:55.540 You've got to be patient. 00:40:56.280 --> 00:41:02.000 Because your success is not going to be found in their response to you, 00:41:02.260 --> 00:41:04.680 but in your obedience to the Lord. 00:41:05.540 --> 00:41:09.300 In your obedience to the Lord of what He's called you to. 00:41:11.260 --> 00:41:16.100 And lastly, being patient and hoping. 00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:18.640 Being patient and hoping. 00:41:21.660 --> 00:41:22.580 Verse 11. 00:41:25.260 --> 00:41:30.240 Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. 00:41:30.980 --> 00:41:33.980 You've heard of the steadfastness of Job, 00:41:35.200 --> 00:41:37.480 and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, 00:41:38.600 --> 00:41:44.380 how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:50.140 I wish we had a long, long, long time to go through Job. 00:41:50.740 --> 00:41:53.640 My men's Bible study that I'm a part of on Thursday, 00:41:53.900 --> 00:41:56.200 it felt like we spent like four and a half years. 00:41:56.340 --> 00:41:58.460 It wasn't really that long, but we were going through Job 00:41:58.460 --> 00:41:59.860 and talking through that together. 00:42:00.540 --> 00:42:03.400 And so if you don't know the story of Job, right, 00:42:03.460 --> 00:42:05.820 let me just kind of really quick two sentences. 00:42:05.820 --> 00:42:09.100 It's like Job was this man who was godly, 00:42:09.860 --> 00:42:11.680 but who suffered so much. 00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:18.760 And his life is embraced in the church 00:42:18.760 --> 00:42:21.540 and even outside of the church. 00:42:22.520 --> 00:42:27.400 The story of his life as one who faced difficulties 00:42:27.400 --> 00:42:29.540 and persevered. 00:42:31.040 --> 00:42:33.920 But outside of the church doesn't tell the whole story. 00:42:35.500 --> 00:42:37.460 And sometimes inside the church doesn't tell the whole story. 00:42:38.680 --> 00:42:42.780 But these difficulties, which included the death of those he loved, 00:42:43.040 --> 00:42:45.160 great financial loss as well. 00:42:45.300 --> 00:42:47.520 And he walks through this journey 00:42:47.520 --> 00:42:51.520 with three of the most dysfunctional people, right, 00:42:51.560 --> 00:42:52.680 that he could go on it with. 00:42:54.120 --> 00:42:56.100 And at the end, in Job 42, 00:42:56.100 --> 00:42:58.500 I want to read. 00:42:59.100 --> 00:43:00.280 This man has lost it. 00:43:01.500 --> 00:43:02.560 He's lost it all. 00:43:04.160 --> 00:43:05.380 In Job 42, 2, 00:43:06.860 --> 00:43:07.940 here's his response. 00:43:08.160 --> 00:43:11.780 I know that you can do all things 00:43:11.780 --> 00:43:16.660 and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 00:43:17.660 --> 00:43:20.680 Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? 00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:23.280 Therefore, I've uttered what I did not understand, 00:43:23.620 --> 00:43:25.140 things too wonderful for me, 00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:26.620 which I did not know. 00:43:28.020 --> 00:43:29.960 Hear, and I will speak. 00:43:30.300 --> 00:43:31.420 I will question you, 00:43:31.580 --> 00:43:32.840 and you make it known to me. 00:43:33.520 --> 00:43:36.820 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, 00:43:36.820 --> 00:43:42.020 but now my eye sees you. 00:43:43.880 --> 00:43:46.460 Therefore, I despise myself 00:43:46.460 --> 00:43:53.260 and repent in dust and ashes. 00:43:54.100 --> 00:43:56.260 Let me reread verses five and six 00:43:56.260 --> 00:43:59.220 after a man who's gone through 00:43:59.220 --> 00:44:01.020 what you and I cannot imagine. 00:44:02.780 --> 00:44:04.560 I had heard of you 00:44:04.560 --> 00:44:07.660 by the hearing of the ear, 00:44:08.540 --> 00:44:10.620 but now, 00:44:11.140 --> 00:44:14.260 going through all that I've gone through, 00:44:14.820 --> 00:44:16.740 all the pain, 00:44:17.800 --> 00:44:18.700 all of the hurt, 00:44:19.380 --> 00:44:20.480 all of the loss, 00:44:21.100 --> 00:44:24.400 but now my eye sees you. 00:44:26.980 --> 00:44:29.440 And therefore, I despise myself 00:44:31.440 --> 00:44:32.700 and I repent 00:44:32.700 --> 00:44:34.860 and dust 00:44:34.860 --> 00:44:36.460 and ashes. 00:44:38.700 --> 00:44:39.960 So patience 00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:43.160 produces something in us. 00:44:44.340 --> 00:44:45.500 It produces 00:44:45.500 --> 00:44:46.660 hope. 00:44:47.740 --> 00:44:49.160 It produces hope. 00:44:50.560 --> 00:44:51.500 I'm going to close with this. 00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:56.160 Whatever you're walking through right now, 00:44:56.880 --> 00:44:59.500 whatever situation 00:44:59.500 --> 00:45:01.620 that you're in, 00:45:02.540 --> 00:45:04.760 news from the doctor, 00:45:06.460 --> 00:45:07.880 financial struggles, 00:45:09.500 --> 00:45:10.900 break in relationship, 00:45:12.780 --> 00:45:13.960 struggle with addiction, 00:45:15.420 --> 00:45:16.700 struggle with hurts, 00:45:18.200 --> 00:45:19.340 struggles with being deceived, 00:45:19.640 --> 00:45:21.420 struggles with being abused, 00:45:21.420 --> 00:45:28.300 whatever it is that you're walking through, 00:45:29.900 --> 00:45:31.420 in Christ, 00:45:32.240 --> 00:45:34.340 that event 00:45:34.340 --> 00:45:36.680 is not the end of your story. 00:45:38.080 --> 00:45:40.480 What you're walking through 00:45:40.480 --> 00:45:44.640 does not define you 00:45:44.640 --> 00:45:46.460 and who you are. 00:45:47.900 --> 00:45:49.780 and as we journey 00:45:49.780 --> 00:45:51.120 through it, 00:45:51.500 --> 00:45:53.160 what we see 00:45:53.160 --> 00:45:55.000 is God's 00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:56.040 working 00:45:56.040 --> 00:45:57.940 and God's 00:45:57.940 --> 00:45:59.140 working 00:45:59.140 --> 00:46:01.160 and God's 00:46:01.160 --> 00:46:02.160 working. 00:46:03.240 --> 00:46:04.680 And when we see 00:46:04.680 --> 00:46:05.740 God's 00:46:05.740 --> 00:46:06.480 working, 00:46:06.900 --> 00:46:08.580 what we're reminded of 00:46:08.580 --> 00:46:09.620 is hope. 00:46:10.940 --> 00:46:11.580 Hope. 00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:13.640 Hope. 00:46:19.060 --> 00:46:20.280 Be patient. 00:46:22.040 --> 00:46:22.600 Therefore, 00:46:22.780 --> 00:46:23.160 brothers, 00:46:23.920 --> 00:46:26.860 until the coming 00:46:26.860 --> 00:46:28.980 of the Lord. 00:46:30.160 --> 00:46:31.040 Would you pray with me? 00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:39.840 Lord, 00:46:39.880 --> 00:46:40.740 we come to you this morning. 00:46:42.020 --> 00:46:42.820 We thank you 00:46:42.820 --> 00:46:43.460 for the goodness 00:46:43.460 --> 00:46:44.440 and the sufficiency 00:46:44.440 --> 00:46:45.180 of your word. 00:46:46.460 --> 00:46:46.880 Lord, 00:46:46.920 --> 00:46:47.640 we love you 00:46:47.640 --> 00:46:48.480 and we thank you 00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:49.560 for your love for us. 00:46:50.860 --> 00:46:51.100 Lord, 00:46:51.120 --> 00:46:51.560 I thank you 00:46:51.560 --> 00:46:53.180 that what you are doing 00:46:53.180 --> 00:46:55.780 and what you have done 00:46:55.780 --> 00:46:58.840 is not sending us 00:46:58.840 --> 00:47:00.640 and scattering us 00:47:00.640 --> 00:47:02.880 as marbles 00:47:02.880 --> 00:47:04.380 that hit a tile floor 00:47:04.380 --> 00:47:05.980 that seem to scatter 00:47:05.980 --> 00:47:07.900 in whatever direction 00:47:07.900 --> 00:47:09.500 by chance they go. 00:47:11.160 --> 00:47:11.940 but Lord, 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:12.960 that the events 00:47:12.960 --> 00:47:13.980 and the circumstances 00:47:13.980 --> 00:47:15.140 of our life 00:47:15.140 --> 00:47:16.980 are not foreign to you. 00:47:17.240 --> 00:47:18.360 They're not unknown 00:47:18.360 --> 00:47:19.080 to you. 00:47:20.160 --> 00:47:20.960 They're not out 00:47:20.960 --> 00:47:21.660 of your hand. 00:47:21.960 --> 00:47:22.460 They're not out 00:47:22.460 --> 00:47:23.140 of your control. 00:47:25.640 --> 00:47:26.280 And Lord, 00:47:26.360 --> 00:47:27.360 I pray that within 00:47:27.360 --> 00:47:29.260 our very being, 00:47:30.100 --> 00:47:32.180 what would reside 00:47:32.180 --> 00:47:33.220 in us 00:47:33.220 --> 00:47:35.260 is a deepness 00:47:35.260 --> 00:47:36.120 of patience 00:47:36.120 --> 00:47:37.220 as we wait 00:47:37.220 --> 00:47:38.480 for the return 00:47:38.480 --> 00:47:39.600 of Christ 00:47:39.600 --> 00:47:44.060 whether that's 00:47:44.060 --> 00:47:45.380 before this service 00:47:45.380 --> 00:47:46.140 is over 00:47:46.140 --> 00:47:50.020 or whether it's 00:47:50.020 --> 00:47:51.200 for more generations 00:47:51.200 --> 00:47:52.280 than we can even 00:47:52.280 --> 00:47:53.640 count have come 00:47:53.640 --> 00:47:56.360 or that we 00:47:56.360 --> 00:47:57.260 patiently, 00:47:57.660 --> 00:47:59.780 patiently wait 00:47:59.780 --> 00:48:00.300 for you. 00:48:02.180 --> 00:48:03.000 Because when we 00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:03.880 patiently wait 00:48:03.880 --> 00:48:04.400 for you, 00:48:04.860 --> 00:48:05.180 Jesus, 00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:06.640 it tells the world 00:48:06.640 --> 00:48:07.660 that you are sufficient, 00:48:08.200 --> 00:48:09.460 that you are enough, 00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:11.020 that you are kind, 00:48:11.220 --> 00:48:12.400 that you are good, 00:48:12.720 --> 00:48:13.260 that you're where 00:48:13.260 --> 00:48:14.380 our hope is found, 00:48:14.640 --> 00:48:15.120 that you're where 00:48:15.120 --> 00:48:16.340 our life is found. 00:48:16.520 --> 00:48:17.840 It's not defined 00:48:17.840 --> 00:48:18.780 by this moment, 00:48:19.540 --> 00:48:20.520 but it's defined 00:48:20.520 --> 00:48:21.200 by our Savior. 00:48:21.200 --> 00:48:26.480 And so Lord, 00:48:27.260 --> 00:48:29.680 may we be patient 00:48:29.680 --> 00:48:32.160 through cancer, 00:48:33.600 --> 00:48:35.620 may we be patient 00:48:35.620 --> 00:48:37.260 through criticism, 00:48:39.140 --> 00:48:41.480 may we be patient 00:48:41.480 --> 00:48:42.420 through fear, 00:48:44.640 --> 00:48:46.120 may we be patient 00:48:46.120 --> 00:48:47.500 through the brokenness 00:48:47.500 --> 00:48:49.900 of the lostness 00:48:49.900 --> 00:48:50.940 of those we love. 00:48:53.180 --> 00:48:54.480 May we be patient 00:48:54.480 --> 00:48:55.500 through the loss 00:48:55.500 --> 00:48:56.260 of our job. 00:48:58.160 --> 00:48:59.880 May we be patient, 00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:01.640 Lord, 00:49:01.680 --> 00:49:03.060 in whatever is before us. 00:49:06.720 --> 00:49:07.340 And Lord, 00:49:07.460 --> 00:49:07.720 in it, 00:49:08.260 --> 00:49:09.980 Lord, 00:49:10.060 --> 00:49:10.320 in it, 00:49:10.380 --> 00:49:11.080 through the power 00:49:11.080 --> 00:49:12.020 of your Holy Spirit 00:49:12.020 --> 00:49:12.860 that is not 00:49:12.860 --> 00:49:13.960 in our own being, 00:49:14.220 --> 00:49:14.800 that is not 00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:15.800 of our own will, 00:49:16.080 --> 00:49:16.600 that is not 00:49:16.600 --> 00:49:17.580 of our own doing, 00:49:17.960 --> 00:49:18.140 Lord, 00:49:18.180 --> 00:49:18.840 may we be found 00:49:18.840 --> 00:49:20.380 faithful and obedient 00:49:20.380 --> 00:49:21.080 to you. 00:49:25.300 --> 00:49:25.940 Giving you 00:49:25.940 --> 00:49:26.700 all the praise 00:49:26.700 --> 00:49:29.540 and all the honor 00:49:29.540 --> 00:49:32.280 and all the glory. 00:49:37.800 --> 00:49:38.320 God, 00:49:38.320 --> 00:49:38.840 thank you for being 00:49:38.840 --> 00:49:40.380 patient with me. 00:49:43.700 --> 00:49:45.060 You love me 00:49:45.060 --> 00:49:48.440 and you grow me 00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:51.480 and you work 00:49:51.480 --> 00:49:53.180 out the areas 00:49:53.180 --> 00:49:55.240 of my heart 00:49:55.240 --> 00:49:57.140 that break yours 00:49:57.140 --> 00:49:59.860 and you do not 00:49:59.860 --> 00:50:00.660 give up on me 00:50:00.660 --> 00:50:05.960 and that every scar 00:50:05.960 --> 00:50:06.900 of my past 00:50:06.900 --> 00:50:09.940 and every scar 00:50:09.940 --> 00:50:10.760 in my future 00:50:10.760 --> 00:50:15.120 is something 00:50:15.120 --> 00:50:15.900 that is used 00:50:15.900 --> 00:50:16.920 by you 00:50:16.920 --> 00:50:19.280 to build 00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:19.940 in me 00:50:19.940 --> 00:50:21.820 a level 00:50:21.820 --> 00:50:22.740 of perseverance 00:50:22.740 --> 00:50:23.960 in you 00:50:23.960 --> 00:50:24.720 that I can run 00:50:24.720 --> 00:50:25.340 the race 00:50:25.340 --> 00:50:27.160 that you have 00:50:27.160 --> 00:50:27.700 for me 00:50:27.700 --> 00:50:30.380 so that I can 00:50:30.380 --> 00:50:31.500 cross the line 00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:33.740 when you 00:50:33.740 --> 00:50:34.120 have me 00:50:34.120 --> 00:50:34.660 cross 00:50:34.660 --> 00:50:37.780 in faithfulness. 00:50:39.700 --> 00:50:40.460 Thank you 00:50:40.460 --> 00:50:41.900 for being 00:50:41.900 --> 00:50:42.380 patient 00:50:42.380 --> 00:50:44.160 with me. 00:50:46.160 --> 00:50:47.220 It's in Jesus' name 00:50:47.220 --> 00:50:47.560 we pray. 00:50:48.240 --> 00:50:48.640 Amen. 00:50:48.640 --> 00:51:03.880 Thanks again 00:51:03.880 --> 00:51:04.380 for listening 00:51:04.380 --> 00:51:04.740 to the 00:51:04.740 --> 00:51:05.520 Willow Ridge Church 00:51:05.520 --> 00:51:06.300 weekly podcast. 00:51:06.820 --> 00:51:07.500 We hope that you 00:51:07.500 --> 00:51:08.140 enjoyed listening 00:51:08.140 --> 00:51:09.120 to this week's message. 00:51:09.620 --> 00:51:10.140 If you'd like 00:51:10.140 --> 00:51:10.680 to learn more 00:51:10.680 --> 00:51:11.500 about who we are 00:51:11.500 --> 00:51:12.180 or explore 00:51:12.180 --> 00:51:13.120 additional resources 00:51:13.120 --> 00:51:14.620 visit us online 00:51:14.620 --> 00:51:18.180 at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:51:18.180 --> 00:51:19.400 or by searching 00:51:19.400 --> 00:51:20.400 for Willow Ridge Church 00:51:20.400 --> 00:51:21.040 on Facebook 00:51:21.040 --> 00:51:21.740 and Instagram.