Be Patient for the Coming of the Lord

James 5:7-12

About the Sermon

James began by speaking of trials, the need for endurance, and reward that awaits those who wait for the Lord's coming. Now, in chapter 5:7–12 he returns to these themes as he brings his letter in for a close. James understands full well the difficulties that his readers face for Jesus' name. He minimizes none of their troubles. But neither does he accommodate their sin. For under such pressures they are tempted in many ways; tempted to grumble against one another, to deceive one another, to give up on the Christian life altogether. For their encouragement, James holds out the coming of the Lord as an answer for every form of impatience.

About the Series

The book of James is beloved of Christians for its famously practical wisdom and instruction. But James is no less painful as it is practical, addressing our many problems with a simple diagnosis: double-mindedness. Our fractured relationships, James says, are symptoms of our fractured souls, souls in a fractured relationship with our Father. But James offers more than this searing diagnosis but a program and prescription for wholeness: “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” The message of James is this: God offers double-minded people the possibility of wholeness through repentance and faith. Our God “yearns jealously” over us and “he gives more grace.”
The book of James is beloved of Christians for its famously practical wisdom and instruction. But James is no less painful as it is practical, addressing our many problems with a simple diagnosis: double-mindedness. Our fractured relationships, James says, are symptoms of our fractured souls, souls in a fractured relationship with our Father. But James offers more than this searing diagnosis but a program and prescription for wholeness: “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” The message of James is this: God offers double-minded people the possibility of wholeness through repentance and faith. Our God “yearns jealously” over us and “he gives more grace.”

Sermons in the Series