All right, good morning, church family.
Once again. As you find your seat, let me
invite you to open your Bibles to the Book of James.
And this morning we're going to be in verses 7:00 to 9:00 if
you're visiting with us this morning.
We've been going to the Book of James for several months and
we're at the last chapter and we're getting close to to
finishing the book, but the end of it is pretty dense.
And so we may be here for a few more weeks.
James 5, verses 7 to 9. Let me read the text.
I'll open it some word of prayer, and then we'll jump into
the sermon this morning. Here's what James writes to us.
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
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. You also be patient, establish
your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you
may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at
the door. Let's pray.
Father, I pray this morning for our church body.
Lord, I imagine everybody here is is waiting in some context.
Everybody here has something that they are struggling to be
patient about or, or waiting on. And maybe it's an answer from
you, Lord. Maybe it's direction, maybe it's
healing. Maybe it's something about the
future. Whatever it may be, God, I pray
that you would use the text this morning to help us to put into
practice what James tells us to do, which is to be patient.
Help us to know what that means, Lord, and how to do it.
And especially, Lord, we pray that you would give us the grace
to actually be patient, that you would be honored, Lord, that
that our patients would testify to the world that we trust you
and that we are content in you. God, I pray this in the name of
Jesus, Amen. I have always known that I am an
impatient person. I I don't believe I have ever
once thought in my life that I was a patient person.
I don't think I thought has ever crossed my mind.
I'm like, I'm pretty patient. I've never had that thought.
I have always known that I am an impatient person.
But I do believe that two things are true, which seems slightly
paradoxical. AI do believe that there are
patient people. I do believe that and BI do
believe that, given the right circumstances, everybody is an
impatient person. I think of it like this.
People have various amounts of impatient buttons.
I'd imagine if if we can't see them, but if, if we could peel
back the layers. People have various amounts of
impatient buttons. Some of us, like me, have
hundreds of them, right? Some of us have maybe just a
handful, maybe just three or four or five, just a handful.
But when those handful get pressed, and it may be years
before they do, we become impatient.
It's just a matter of finding the right button.
Perhaps it's being interrupted repeatedly when you're trying to
get something done. Maybe it's becoming apparent,
maybe when you are unfairly criticized, or maybe when
someone in your life feels entitled, or perhaps chronic
pain in your life, given the right circumstance.
We all wrestle with waiting, with contentment.
That's what the sermon is about this morning.
We're going to start with an exposition of the text.
We'll look at it section by section, and then I'll give us 7
points of application. So let's start looking at James
57A where James writes be patient.
Therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
It's unclear when we read this text if verse 7 is connected to
the previous section, but this word therefore be patient,
therefore leads us to believe that it is connected, which then
raises the question, how is it connected?
From what we looked at last week, if you remember last week,
there were these wealthy land owners who are rich.
Based on the context, it appears to me that they are lost.
They are wicked, lost, wealthy land owners and they are
oppressing the poor. And the way that they're
oppressing them is that they're not paying the laborers their
wages at the end of the day. Now, the problem is, is that
these poor workers, they have no righteous recourse of action.
There's no Department of Labor. There's no, you know, government
agency they can go file a report to and say you're not paying us
right. And, and even if there are
judges, right, the judges may be paid off by the the rich.
So they have no righteous recourse of action except one,
which is to cry out to the Lord. Now, anytime that we cry out to
the Lord for justice, we can be sure of two realities.
A we can be sure that God hears our cries, and B we can be sure
that God is willing to do something about it.
However, God's timing is often not our timing, meaning God may
not immediately intervene to bring justice to the poor.
It could be days, weeks, months, years before God brings justice.
And in light of this, James exhorts the church.
Be patient, brothers, Be patient until the coming of the Lord.
In other words, I think he's exhorting them.
Don't take matters into your own hands.
You can only imagine that some of these people would have been
tempted to get revenge. Find ways to seek revenge.
And James says don't do that. Instead, be patient.
Now the question is, what does it mean to be patient?
And we all have heard this term before.
We've all used it. We've all maybe told someone to
do it, right? But what does it actually mean?
What does it mean to be patient? The Greek word for patients
that's used here is defined as this, to remain tranquil while
waiting, to bear up under provocation without complaint.
And what we see from these definitions is that patience is
not just waiting. Patience and waiting are not
synonymous. Patience is also how we wait.
Patience is waiting with faith and contentment.
For how long? James says, until the coming of
the Lord. Well, what is that?
And when is that? The Greek word for coming is
perusia. You may have seen that term
before if you've read any kind of scholarly works.
What is the perusia? This is the second coming of
Christ. And so James is telling the
church. He says be patient until the
Lord either calls you home or until he returns to the second
coming of Christ. Look at verse 7B to 8A.
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient about it until it receives the early and late
rains. You also be patient.
So James takes an example from real life to illustrate to the
church the need for patients. He says, take a look at the
farmer. See how the farmer waits for the
precious fruit of the earth. Don't miss the imperative there.
There's an imperative there in the word.
See, James is inviting them to see to see something, right.
Often we can, you know, you can look at a farmer and just like,
no, it's a farmer, right? And James is saying, don't do
that. Stop and consider what this man
or woman goes through. They wait on the precious fruit.
Why is it precious? It's precious.
The word precious means valued. Why is it precious?
Because that was the farmer's livelihood.
That was the only way that he made money.
So when he is waiting for his crops, this is his income.
This is his way that he feeds his family and puts a roof over
their head. And all farmers have one thing
in common. They must all wait.
That is a universal quality that all farmers have.
They must all wait. I was looking up the
agricultural cycle of many of their produce during this time
in the 1st century. Wheat would take around six to
seven months, barley 5 to 6 months, lentils 4 to 5 months,
chickpeas and beans three to four months.
Flax would take about four to five months.
Olive trees would take 10 to 15 years, grapevines 3 to five
years, figs three to five years, and there's no way to speed this
up. After the farmer has planted, he
has to be patient. It does no good for him to be
impatient. He must wait until the ground
receives the early and late rains.
The way that their cycle worked is that the early rains would
fall from October to November. This would soften the ground for
plowing and sowing. The winter rains would fall from
December to February. This is when the crops would
actually grow. The late rains would fall from
March to April and it would fill out the grain heads.
And then the dry season would be from May until September when
they would harvest, thresh and store their crops.
That's how it worked. There was no changing it.
And so James gives this familiar example to say, much like his
brother Jesus, look at the farmer.
Be patient. Just like him.
The crop will come. Look at verse 8B.
Establish your hearts. I want to look just at that
phrase. Establish your hearts.
James gives a second command here.
Establish your heart. What does that mean to establish
your heart? We don't really use that phrase
right. I've never heard anybody,
including myself, ever tell someone that counsel like what
counsel would you give me establish your heart.
What does that mean? It means to cause to be inwardly
firm or committed to confirm, to establish, to strengthen
probably the the the better translation be strengthen your
hearts. What's interesting is that this
verb that's used for established can occur in three through three
different means. A The Lord himself first Peter
510 The God of all grace, will himself restore, confirm,
strengthen and establish you. B It can come through the church
body. First Thessalonians 32 And we
sent Timothy to establish and exhort you in the faith, and see
it can come from ourselves. Revelation 32 Jesus tells the
church wake up and strengthen, establish what remains and is
about to die. And James here gives this third
category. He is exhorting the church to
establish, to strengthen their own hearts.
Now why does he give this exhortation?
Why here and in a passage about being patient, does he exhort
them to establish their hearts? Because the temptation and
waiting is always the same. When any of us are waiting, the
temptation is always the same. To grow angry, to grow anxious
or to grow apathetic, That's always the temptation for
everybody. You either grow angry, anxious
or apathetic. And James tells them, don't let
your hearts drift into a sea of anger or a sea of anxiety or a
sea of apathy. Establish them, strengthen them.
And then look at the reason he gives.
Look at HC for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
That's the reason. The reason to establish their
hearts is because the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Now what does this mean? The coming of Lord's hand?
Reading this at first glance, we might wonder, was James wrong?
It's 2000 years later, James, here we are, and the Lord has
not returned. I wouldn't call that at hand.
We see this phrase at hand several times in the New
Testament. John the Baptist says it Repent
for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus himself preached Repent
for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Paul wrote in Philippians, let your reasonableness be known to
everyone. The Lord is at hand.
Peter wrote the end of all things is at hand.
Was John and Jesus and Paul and Peter and James all wrong?
No. I think we can reconcile this in
one of two ways, or both ways. A to say that something is at
hand can simply mean that it's ready, that it's ready.
In other words, all the conditions have been met for
this event to happen. Nothing else needs to happen for
this event to happen. So think of like a volcano
earthquake. Somebody, you know, a
meteorologist or a volcanoist, I don't know what they're called,
but they say a volcano eruption is at hand or that, you know,
they've been telling us that there's an earthquake is at
hand, right? We're supposed to have this like
the next earthquake is supposed to like put us in the Pacific
Ocean or something, right? An earthquake is at hand.
What do they mean by this? And they mean all the pieces are
there for this to happen. But it could be weeks, it could
be years before it happens. Just means it's ready.
That's one way to reconcile this.
The other way to reconcile this is perhaps to remember that
God's timing is not God's time. God's sense of time is not our
time. Peter tells us that one day is
as 1000 years and 1000 years is as one day.
So for us, for for us humans, it's been 2000 years.
For God, it's been 48 hours. Look at verse 9A.
Do not grumble against one another, Brothers, do not
grumble. Now what's the connection there?
James gives his fifth imperative in this passage.
Do not grumble against one another.
Typically the word for grumble means to groan or to sigh, but
it can also have the meaning of expressing discontent or
complaining. Now, why would James give this
command here? What is the connection between
patients and grumbling? What's the connection there?
Douglas Moo writes this. He's a commentator.
Douglas Moo writes this. Grumbling against those who are
close to us is particularly likely to occur when we are
facing pressure or facing difficult circumstances.
We vent the pressure from a stressful work environment or
from ill health on our close friends and family.
So it would be quite natural if James's readers, under the
pressure of poverty and persecution, would turn their
frustrations on one another. Moreover, the exhortation to be
patient with the circumstances of suffering that the readers
face could easily evoke the need for patients with fellow
community members as well. What MU is saying is that we all
know this to be true, that whenever we are going through a
trial, it's very easy for us. We went when trials have a way
of kind of squeezing us. And when they squeeze us, we
often then start complaining about people, sometimes our
brothers and sisters. That's one example.
The other example he gives is that these these poor who are
being oppressed and they're being persecuted.
Sometimes, you know, you ever had someone who's going through
a trial and you just kind of get tired of of them moaning about
their trial and you start complaining about them.
And James says we have a need to be patient with them to not
complain about them. We're all reminded of how the
Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron when they didn't
have water to drink. Remember when they didn't have
water to drink? What did they do?
They grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
They were tired of waiting, and so they took their impatience
out on Moses and Aaron. Look at 9B so that do not
grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be
judged. Behold, the judge is standing at
the door. Notice the so that here he says
don't grumble against one another so that you may not be
judged. In other words, James says
complaining will be judged. Judged by who?
Judged by the judge, James says, behold, this again is an
imperative. He's exhorting the church to see
for the second time. He says, behold, see, notice
this, the judge is standing at the door.
Notice the the ESV capitalizes judge.
Why do they do that? Because judge here is referring
to either God the Father or Jesus.
Other one, the judge is standing at the door.
What does that mean? This is basically the same
meaning as the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Maybe the judge is is is here. He could come at any point and
it applies that the judge hears these complaints and we'll deal
with them accordingly. I gave this, you know, analogy
years ago. Imagine if you were standing in
this long line to apply for a job and as you're standing there
like you're just complaining to the guy next to you about how
terrible of a company this is. Let me get the front of the
line. Turns out it was all being
recorded. Kind of position.
Do you think you'll get at this company?
That's the idea here that James is saying we're all in this line
and the judge hears everything. He hears it all.
Complaining kills patients. But patience kills complaining.
They both kill one another. We'll stop there with the
exposition application of the text 7 Truths.
I have 7 truths for us this morning #1 Patience is God-given
grace to wait upon the Lord with faith and contentment.
Patience is God-given grace to wait upon the Lord with faith
and contentment. Whenever I think about virtues,
any virtue, I like to break down the virtue and an attempt to
discover what it's true nature is.
For example, kindness. What exactly is kindness?
My wife, I wrestle with my wife all the time.
You know, I'm like, what exactly is kindness?
Sometimes, you know, I'll be efficient.
And she's like, no, you're being efficient.
I'm like, well, I think efficiency is kind.
What is kindness? What makes something kind or
joy? What exactly is joy?
How do I know if I'm feeling it? The same is true with patience.
What exactly is patience? What exactly is it twice?
In this passage, James commands the church to be patient.
So what exactly is James telling them to do?
Here's my best attempt at breaking down what patience is.
Patience is God-given grace to wait upon the Lord with faith
and contentment. Let me break that down.
A patience is a God-given grace. Even though James commands the
church to do this, we must remember that patience is a
fruit of the Holy Spirit, which means only the Holy Spirit can
produce this kind of fruit. If we try to reap fruit from our
personalities, from our culture, from our upbringing, from our
natural proclivities, it will only be so productive because
this true fruit of patience, it only comes in one soil and is
the soil of the Holy Spirit. B to wait upon the Lord.
Patience is a God-given grace to wait upon the Lord.
Patience is not simply waiting, it is a waiting upon the Lord.
This is key because we find ourselves in all kinds of
situations where we are waiting, right?
Traffic jams, man, I hate traffic.
I don't know about you. I, I, I hate traffic and this
whole Revive I5 stuff. Long lines at Costco.
You ever been to a Costco on Saturday?
Good grief. Bubble tea shop the pharmacy.
And have you all been to a pharmacy lately?
It's like 12 deep calling customer service.
One time I was on hold with Molina Healthcare for an hour
and 45 minutes. I was driving back.
The drive was 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Before I got home, they said Molina Healthcare waiting on a
medical test or a lab test results, the doctor's office.
Is the doctor ever on time? TSA at the airport though I saw
you can pay $45.00 to skip the TSA line.
Now I don't know what that is. Not to mention flight delays at
the airport. Waiting for a family or friend
who always you ever had a family member who's just always late or
a friend who's always late? You're like, I am that I am that
friend waiting for rain to stop, waiting on a package delivery.
I mean, Amazon's gone to two hour delivery.
We we can't wait more than two hours waiting for someone to
reply to your text or e-mail. You ever had somebody, you know,
that friend that you text or e-mail and they respond like a
week later? Waiting on food at a really busy
restaurant. Waiting for a promotion at work.
Waiting at the gym for the squat rack to open up.
Waiting at the business meeting or the church meeting that seems
like it's never going to end. Waiting nine months for a baby
to come or waiting to get pregnant.
Waiting for healing from an injury.
Waiting on a spouse or waiting for a proposal?
There are countless things that we're waiting on, but we must
never forget that we are ultimately waiting on the Lord
for everything. Why?
Because if God is sovereign, He is sovereign over this traffic
jam. See, patience is a God-given
grace to wait upon the Lord. See with faith and contentment,
patience is not simply waiting upon the Lord, it's waiting with
a certain disposition. 2 elements must be present for it
to be patience. One is faith and two is
contentment. To wait with faith is to say I
trust that God is in control. I trust that God's timing is
perfect. I trust that God's plan is for
my good. To wait with contentment is to
say I can be happy and satisfied in the Lord while I wait.
I don't have to get angry here. I am angry.
I don't have to get angry. I don't have to be anxious here.
Some of us have been anxious for so many years, we feel like we
have no other choice. That's just who we are.
The reality is, that's not who you are.
You don't have to get angry. You don't have to get anxious.
You don't. I don't have to take matters
into my own hands. I don't have to create a backup
plan in case God's plan fails. I can be content.
I can be happy and satisfied while I wait on the Lord.
Patience is a God-given grace to wait upon the Lord with faith
and contentment. Two, how long, O Lord, until
Jesus says stop? How long O?
Lord, until Jesus says stop. For anybody who has ever.
Played high school athletics or college athletics, or perhaps
been in the military. There's a common statement that
we've all heard until I say stop.
The coach says get on. The line and run you start
running. How long, coach until I say
stop? Push ups everybody.
How many, Sir, till I say stop? Bear crawls.
How long until I say? Stop.
Crab walks. How long until I say stop?
James says be patient. Brothers for how long till the?
Coming of the Lord until Jesus. Says stop.
Now I want you to. Think about how difficult this
is. It's very simple to say.
That. But I want you to think about
how difficult this is. The context here is that there
are poor Christians who are working all day in the hot sun.
It might have been 100°, maybe 120°.
There, there, there, tireless working from sunrise to sunset.
And at the end of the day, they go up to their their boss, their
landowner. They expect to be paid so they
can go to the market, buy some food, bring it home and feed
their family. But when they go to get paid,
the landowner says sorry, can't pay you today.
Even though he could these rich. Wicked land owners are not
paying them and James's response to them is this Be patient.
Be patient. For how long?
Until the coming of the Lord, I think one of the.
Hardest times to be patient is when we don't know when it will
end, isn't it? It's like if I'm at the airport
and I know that my flight departs in three hours, Man, I
don't like waiting 3 hours, but there's an end insight.
I know that in three hours I'm getting on this plane and I'll
eventually get there. But when we're at the airport
and our flight is delayed and we don't know if it will be 3 hours
or six hours or 9 hours or it'll be cancelled all together.
One time we we were. Waiting at a Mississippi airport
one time we got there like early in the day.
We waited all day long just for them at the end of the day to
say sorry, the flight's not making it today.
I would have gotten a hotel. It but if I had known you were
going to cancel it, it's difficult to be patient.
How many times did the? Psalmist, cry out how long, O
Lord? Brothers and sisters, our end.
Is insight. Our end is.
Insight either through death or his second coming.
Be patient until he calls us home. 3 Just as no farmer can
speed up his chickpeas, no Christian can speed up the Lord.
Just as no farmer. Can speed up his chickpeas.
No Christian can speed up the Lord.
I think it's interesting that James uses a farmer to
illustrate patients. It's a beautiful illustration
because farming is a work of patients.
In most industries, if you're not first, you're what last?
That's how the workforce is. If you're not first, you're
last. It's a race against time.
Who can develop the next product the fastest?
Who can be the first to market but.
Farming is a work of. Patients.
The farmer can't speed up. The rains.
He can't get his crops. There a month earlier than all
the other farmers. He can't figure out some system,
right? Contrary to Pagan religions,
there was no rain dance that he could do to make it rain a month
earlier so that he could get his crops to market before anybody
else. Everybody buys his crops.
The farmer can't speed up the rains.
He can speed up the germination process.
He can't speed up the seedling stage.
He can't speed up the vegetative growth.
He can't speed up the budding or the flowering or the fruit
development or the ripening. He must be patient and wait.
No farmer. Can speed up his chickpeas and
no Christian can speed up the Lord.
Now, I don't want to suggest that we can't pray and ask the
Lord to speed up. God may very well answer.
That prayer and speed things up, but for so many things in life
we have to accept that this is the God ordained process and
timeline. As parents, don't we wish?
That potty training could be learned in a day or maybe even a
week. As athletes, don't we wish?
The torn Achilles could heal in a week.
I. Was playing the other day.
With a guy who tore his Achilles, he fell on the ground
and, and, and, and if you ever seen somebody tear their
Achilles, like it's just, it's so pain.
Not, not doesn't necessarily even hurt all that much.
It's so painful because you realize let's take a year.
It's like a year recovery. As students, when you're
learning. Something new.
You're taking a a hard class and you're learning something new.
Don't we wish that we could just pick it up in a day or two?
That we were all just like savants and we could just, you
know, be like Mozart and just pick it up like one day or two.
I I was thinking about. The Kies.
They spent three years learning a language.
As singles when you're. Looking for a spouse?
Don't we wish that God would just give them a name tag that
reads my future spouse? Save us a lot of heartache so
often we. Spend so much time trying to
figure out how can I make this go faster?
How can I speed up this process when often I'm convinced we
can't, We can't, and if we try to, we usually ruin it.
It's like turning the oven. Up to 500 in the hopes that the
brownies will bake faster when all.
It does is just burn. Them.
It doesn't make them. Cook faster.
It just burns them. Brothers and sisters, learn from
the farmer. Be patient with God's timing.
Four. While waiting for the shore,
drop your anchor. While waiting for the shore,
drop your anchor. Waiting with patience is easier
said than done. We.
Should wait with faith and. Contentment, but we.
All know that the reality. Is that waiting often produces
one of three emotional responses, one of three sinful
emotional responses. It either produces anger.
It either produces anxiety, It either produces apathy, Some.
Of us are prone to. Anger.
When we wait, we get frustrated at circumstances or we get
frustrated with people taking so long.
Some of us are prone to anxiety. When we wait, what if it doesn't
turn out the way I hope? What if everything goes wrong?
Some of us are prone. To apathy.
You know what? I'm done with waiting.
I'm done with this. I'm I'm tired of waiting.
Of what they never happened. I'm not going to wait anymore.
When we are waiting, how do we keep our hearts from becoming
angry or anxious or apathetic? By establishing them.
Or in other words, while waiting
for the shore, drop your anchor. You see, emotions are like
waves. We're sitting our little vessel
on the water, waiting for shore, waiting for shore of marriage,
waiting. For shore of career.
Waiting for shore of children. Waiting for shore of healing.
Waiting for a shore of this season to be done with.
We're all sitting in our vessel waiting for a shore.
When is this going to be over? We have been rowing.
And rowing. And rowing and.
We're waiting for the shore. And as we wait, a wave comes.
A wave called anger. And this wave will carry.
Us, if we let it, it'll carry us or.
Perhaps another wave? Comes called anxiety and this
wave will carry us or. Perhaps even a third wave.
Comes called apathy, and it too will carry us while we are
waiting to see the shore. What should we do?
Drop your anchor. Establish your heart.
This is so important. Because it's only a matter of
time before Satan finds the right wave to carry us.
Just a matter of time you ever consider.
That Abraham held. Out for 13 years, he was told
he'd have a child. He held out for 13 years until
he finally gave in to Sarah's request.
The Israelites held out for. Moses for 40 days.
They waited on the brother for 40 days.
And at the end of 40 days, they said, we don't know where he is.
We don't even know who this guy is.
Let's just build a calf. Job held out for a while.
You read the book of Job. Job held out for a while, and
then he finally gave in to despair.
Started questioning God's. Justice.
Don't let waiting make you angry or anxious or apathetic.
While you are waiting for the shore, drop your anchor.
Five Life is like a roller coaster.
Ups and downs, twists and turns, backwards and forwards, but it.
Only lasts like 2 to. 3 minutes. Life is like a roller.
Coaster. It's got ups and downs.
And twists and turns backwards and forwards but it only lasts
like 2 to 3 minutes. Can I?
Get a show of hands. How many people here love roller
coasters? OK, how many people?
Here, hate them and would never get on them.
It's about 5050. Maybe 6040.
I love roller coasters. I love them.
I will ride pretty much everything.
But I got a taste. Of how some people feel when
they ride roller coasters. Those who hate them.
When I rode Guardians of the Galaxy at Disneyland.
And the reason is is I. Thought this ride was going to
slowly go to the top and drop US one time.
That's what I was told. The ride slowly goes up, you get
to the top and then it drops you once.
So we get in, we strap in. I got my belt down.
I'm like, yeah, you all ready? I'm with my boys.
They're like, oh, and the lights turn out.
I'm like, oh, you all ready? And we like took off.
And then dropped. And it took off and then dropped
and it went back and forth and I thought I just had it was my
birthday and I just, I got my free Starbucks Venti white
chocolate mocha. And I was like, this is about to
all come up on this person in front of me.
It went up and down and it felt like an eternity.
I thought it would never end. It turns out it was.
Only about 90 seconds. But it felt like 90.
Years. That's how life.
Is. It's like a roller coaster.
It's filled with UPS and. Downs and twists and turns and
backwards and forwards, and when you're in the most intense
moments of your life, it feels like an eternity.
And yet James reminds us. It's only a short time.
James writes the coming. Of the Lord is at hand, meaning
it could happen at any point. I think one of the reasons that.
We are so prone to get angry or anxious or apathetic is that we
forget how short this life is. We forget that we are.
A mist that appears for a short time and then vanishes.
We forget that Jesus could. Return at any moment.
And when we stand in. Glory.
On the day that we stand in glory and in heaven and all its
glory, and we see the Savior seated on the throne, I have to
believe that we are going to righteously laugh at all the
times we got so worked up. About earthly things.
Why was I so angry? Why was I so anxious?
6 Patience and complaining cannot coexist.
Patience and complaining. Cannot coexist.
I was thinking about this. If you could go out into society
and see people in various contexts, right, If you can
just, you know, kind of do an experiment, go to the post
office, go to the mall, go to the bank, go to the airport, go
to the library, the school, the workplace, the gym would.
We be able to spot. Patient people like could you,
can you watch people and spot who is patient and who is not
and and if So, what would be the litmus test that we would use to
determine it? There are many criteria that.
We could use in our assessment, but here is one that would be
foolproof. Complaining, complaining.
If a person is complaining, they are not being patient, James
writes. Do not grumble against one
another. You see, much of our complaints
are rooted in impatience, are they not?
Now I say this, I am. A type A person you know.
Like type A, type BI. Am type AI tell people I'm type
A with a capital A because some people tell me their type A and
then I know them for a little while.
I'm like, you're not, you're like lowercase A I'm type A,
like capital type A, my wife. Likes to joke with.
Me that my top core value in life is efficiency.
Like what do I value outside of spiritual things?
What do I value most in life is efficiency.
I like just. One example, this old lady came
up to us in Costco the day Moses was publishing a card around and
she was like, is that your son? And we're like, yeah, she's
like, I was wondering because I was like, that's a young man to
be shopping at Costco by himself, right?
We, we divide and conquer at Costco, like all six of us.
I'm like, I give you each three items.
They all go out and spread out Costco.
My goal is to get out like sometimes they will let us in at
like 10:00 with others in at 9:50.
My goal is it can I get out of here before 10:00?
We've done it three times. We got in at 9:50, we got out at
9:59. When I say that efficiency.
Is a top. My wife's not joking.
I like things to. Get done ASAP and.
When that doesn't. Happen.
Do you know what happens? I simply complain about the
person. Why?
Can't they just get this? Done.
Why are they taking so? Long.
Why are they being so? Difficult.
Why is? This not a priority.
For them you see if. Patience is a.
Fruit complaining is a fungus that eats away at the fruit.
It reveals the fruit to be rotten.
That's what complaining does. It shows that the fruit is
rotten. Last .7.
This call is being recorded for Kingdom and eternal purposes.
You know when you call customer service.
They always give you that line. This call is being recorded for
quality and and training purposes.
I heard a comedian the other. Day he was sharing about he was
calling the the cable company which have you ever called the
cable company that's like the worst called the cable company.
They said this call is being recorded for quality and
training purposes. And he said and I want you to
know that I am recording this call for quality purposes.
So behave right? Last week I asked the.
Question What if every cent was made public?
Credit card statements. Bank statements, brokerage
accounts, checking accounts, savings accounts, Cash, PayPal,
Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Apple Cash, Google Pay.
What if all of it was made public?
What if, like, you know, every single cent that flowed in and
out of our hands was made public to everybody and we all knew how
much we had and what we did with that and how we what if that
were true? Here's another question.
What if everything we said was recorded and made public?
What if every single thing we said was recorded and made
public? Every argument with our spouse
or our housemates. Every late night conversation.
Every comment at 5:00. PM in rush hour traffic.
Every joke in the locker. Room or hair salon?
Every whisper. Over tea.
Every unkind word to. Our children.
Every heated moment in. Our life.
What if everything was recorded and made public?
The reality is, is that everything is recorded.
And one day will be made. Public.
Everything we say is being. Recorded.
And one day will be. Made public.
James says the reason. We are not to grumble against
one another is so that you may not be judged.
Behold, the judge is standing at the door, meaning that this life
is 1 long call that is being recorded for Kingdom and eternal
purposes. And the judge will use.
This recording in his courtroom. Someone once said that trials
have a way of squeezing us and what's on the inside comes out.
Church family, be careful. What you let come out, that's
great.