James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
This is why you should be patient when preaching the gospel. These seeds can take months, or years or even decades to bear fruit. Someone preaches the gospel, a person scoffs at this, "I'm gonna be rich". But that seed was planted, now as the miseries come upon this person, think of the billionaire who climbed the mountain only to find there is nothing on the top of the mountain. That is when they can repent. Maybe they made a lot of money and were rich, but they lost their wife and kids, they lost their friends, and now they realize when they die what is the point? Of course very few people become rich, most get run over by the rich and so they learn how corrupt the world is by being run over by the world.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Obviously this refers to the tribulation and the day of the Lord, but it has also been true throughout the church age. This is why a funeral is a great place to preach the gospel.
9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
This word "grudge" is translated "sigh" in this verse: And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And groan in this verse: And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. The point is that this process of sowing seeds of faith and they take years to grow and mature doesn't simply apply to being saved, it applies to everything. This concept of "cults" or "false prophets". It is not "black and white". Instead there is a multiple shades of gray. Some doctrines are easy to debunk, others are interwoven with the truth and are much harder to debunk. For example, "once saved always saved" is interwoven with the truth. Someone may understand that you can have the full assurance of salvation, that is true. Using that cloak of truth others can teach that you can live in sin and are still saved, that is not necessarily false. If their point is that just because you sinned after being saved it doesn't mean you lost your salvation, or if you sin in ignorance it doesn't mean you have lost your salvation. Yes, that also might be true. But what they have done is distorted the truth. People who have been saved by faith will have evidence of that faith, they will have "works of faith" just like Abraham and Rahab did. Living in sin is evidence of not having been saved by faith, because once you are saved you cannot do the things you used to do. You will feel dirty, they will no longer be pleasurable but instead will make you feel dead.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
This book of James is focused on delivering us from a cult. The word "cult" is not used in the New Testament, instead they use things like the world, or the prince of the power of the air, or the flesh, or false prophets, etc. The world likes to think that only 1% of people are in a cult when in reality the entire world is under the deception of the evil one. The billionaire pursuing wealth, the moonie selling flowers, the housewife watching soap operas, they are all being manipulated by deception in the world. James is telling us the cure and he is also telling us that the cure requires patience. Think of a cult as a big giant vat of deception. If you are in the center of this vat and realize I'm in a cult and so begin swimming to the edge you will go from being the king in the center to the weirdo in the moonies. You haven't left the cult vat, but you at least have come to realize you are in it.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
James is describing the Christian ministry with the book of Job. A Christian should begin their life taking Christ as their righteousness. Then their should be a desire in them to help the lost to be saved just as Job was praying for his children and offering up a sacrifice to cover their sins. That is what a Christian ministry is. Once you step out into your calling you will come under attack from Satan and you will hear all the other religions saying that all these things happened to you because you have sinned. All other religions preach a condemnation. In reality what happens is you have become one with Jesus Christ, who is our burnt offering, who suffered without the camp, to pay for the sins of others. But everything you go through should lead you to a revelation of the Christ who is within you and who is above all. Then instead of being swamped by the world, you walk on the waves. That in turn causes all those who are in the world to see you walking on the waves happy and full of joy.
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
This in turn is the biggest sign of a cult. They will make you pledge a loyalty oath. The ultimate loyalty oath is the mark of the beast. This is how they attack a successful ministry, they "appropriate it". They will want to be on the board of directors and will bring a whole lot of money and talk about how they will help you promote this ministry and spread it abroad. This is what the whore of Babylon does, she "rides the beast". This is what Delilah did with Samson. This is what Jezebel did. Do not be unequally yoked, there is no fellowship between light and darkness.
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
The things we go through become the basis for a ministry. How do you overcome affliction? With prayer. How do you release the joy you feel, with worship. Being healed by the Lord is the foundation for a healing ministry. Having been forgiven of sins is the foundation for your empathy towards sinners.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
This word translated fault can mean trespass, it can mean sin, it can mean fault, it can mean offence. This is a testimony. A testimony of the Lord shows how you got corrected, it reveals a fault that you have, common to us all, but the Lord stepped in and helped you, an answer to prayer.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
You have to love James. Elijah is living in an agricultural economy, he has the same feelings we do and so he prays that it won't rain for three and a half years! Do we really all have the same feeling that we want a horrific drought to fall on our nation and bring a famine? If you read the story no one had the same feeling he did, they all wanted him killed. So James doesn't mean Elijah had the same feelings that the king or the people in Israel did, he means he has the same feeling that gospel preachers have. World War is an event that causes everyone to go to their knees and pray to God. Famine does the same thing. Elijah was preaching the word for people to repent and at the same time he was praying to God to help him by causing a famine. When the economy is great no one pays attention to the gospel, but when there is a great depression that is when they will turn to God.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
But the goal is not famine, the goal, like we see in the book of Job, is a double blessing once we understand God and are working together with God rather than independent of God.
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
This is how you prepare for the Lord's return.
This is why you should be patient when preaching the gospel. These seeds can take months, or years or even decades to bear fruit. Someone preaches the gospel, a person scoffs at this, "I'm gonna be rich". But that seed was planted, now as the miseries come upon this person, think of the billionaire who climbed the mountain only to find there is nothing on the top of the mountain. That is when they can repent. Maybe they made a lot of money and were rich, but they lost their wife and kids, they lost their friends, and now they realize when they die what is the point? Of course very few people become rich, most get run over by the rich and so they learn how corrupt the world is by being run over by the world.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Obviously this refers to the tribulation and the day of the Lord, but it has also been true throughout the church age. This is why a funeral is a great place to preach the gospel.
9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
This word "grudge" is translated "sigh" in this verse: And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And groan in this verse: And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. The point is that this process of sowing seeds of faith and they take years to grow and mature doesn't simply apply to being saved, it applies to everything. This concept of "cults" or "false prophets". It is not "black and white". Instead there is a multiple shades of gray. Some doctrines are easy to debunk, others are interwoven with the truth and are much harder to debunk. For example, "once saved always saved" is interwoven with the truth. Someone may understand that you can have the full assurance of salvation, that is true. Using that cloak of truth others can teach that you can live in sin and are still saved, that is not necessarily false. If their point is that just because you sinned after being saved it doesn't mean you lost your salvation, or if you sin in ignorance it doesn't mean you have lost your salvation. Yes, that also might be true. But what they have done is distorted the truth. People who have been saved by faith will have evidence of that faith, they will have "works of faith" just like Abraham and Rahab did. Living in sin is evidence of not having been saved by faith, because once you are saved you cannot do the things you used to do. You will feel dirty, they will no longer be pleasurable but instead will make you feel dead.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
This book of James is focused on delivering us from a cult. The word "cult" is not used in the New Testament, instead they use things like the world, or the prince of the power of the air, or the flesh, or false prophets, etc. The world likes to think that only 1% of people are in a cult when in reality the entire world is under the deception of the evil one. The billionaire pursuing wealth, the moonie selling flowers, the housewife watching soap operas, they are all being manipulated by deception in the world. James is telling us the cure and he is also telling us that the cure requires patience. Think of a cult as a big giant vat of deception. If you are in the center of this vat and realize I'm in a cult and so begin swimming to the edge you will go from being the king in the center to the weirdo in the moonies. You haven't left the cult vat, but you at least have come to realize you are in it.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
James is describing the Christian ministry with the book of Job. A Christian should begin their life taking Christ as their righteousness. Then their should be a desire in them to help the lost to be saved just as Job was praying for his children and offering up a sacrifice to cover their sins. That is what a Christian ministry is. Once you step out into your calling you will come under attack from Satan and you will hear all the other religions saying that all these things happened to you because you have sinned. All other religions preach a condemnation. In reality what happens is you have become one with Jesus Christ, who is our burnt offering, who suffered without the camp, to pay for the sins of others. But everything you go through should lead you to a revelation of the Christ who is within you and who is above all. Then instead of being swamped by the world, you walk on the waves. That in turn causes all those who are in the world to see you walking on the waves happy and full of joy.
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
This in turn is the biggest sign of a cult. They will make you pledge a loyalty oath. The ultimate loyalty oath is the mark of the beast. This is how they attack a successful ministry, they "appropriate it". They will want to be on the board of directors and will bring a whole lot of money and talk about how they will help you promote this ministry and spread it abroad. This is what the whore of Babylon does, she "rides the beast". This is what Delilah did with Samson. This is what Jezebel did. Do not be unequally yoked, there is no fellowship between light and darkness.
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
The things we go through become the basis for a ministry. How do you overcome affliction? With prayer. How do you release the joy you feel, with worship. Being healed by the Lord is the foundation for a healing ministry. Having been forgiven of sins is the foundation for your empathy towards sinners.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
This word translated fault can mean trespass, it can mean sin, it can mean fault, it can mean offence. This is a testimony. A testimony of the Lord shows how you got corrected, it reveals a fault that you have, common to us all, but the Lord stepped in and helped you, an answer to prayer.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
You have to love James. Elijah is living in an agricultural economy, he has the same feelings we do and so he prays that it won't rain for three and a half years! Do we really all have the same feeling that we want a horrific drought to fall on our nation and bring a famine? If you read the story no one had the same feeling he did, they all wanted him killed. So James doesn't mean Elijah had the same feelings that the king or the people in Israel did, he means he has the same feeling that gospel preachers have. World War is an event that causes everyone to go to their knees and pray to God. Famine does the same thing. Elijah was preaching the word for people to repent and at the same time he was praying to God to help him by causing a famine. When the economy is great no one pays attention to the gospel, but when there is a great depression that is when they will turn to God.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
But the goal is not famine, the goal, like we see in the book of Job, is a double blessing once we understand God and are working together with God rather than independent of God.
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
This is how you prepare for the Lord's return.