James 5:7-11
Part 6
Yesterday: The Patience of the Prophets
“Take, my brethren, the prophets.”
“Who have spoken in the name of the Lord.”
“For an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.”
God’s faithful prophets spoke His message to His people. They were not commentators but heralds of God’s Word!
Today: The Patience of Job
(James 5:11) “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.”
“Behold, we count them happy which endure.”
Does “Endurance” = “Happiness?”
“Happy.”
The thought of happiness here in this verse does not mean that we are being cheery about life’s circumstances. Not all our life events are “happy.” In this verse, “happy” in the sense of having God’s blessing. The only other place in the New Testament where this word is used is when Mary said it. She is praising God that she will be the mother of Jesus the Christ and thinking of what people will say about her in the future.
“For He [God] hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).
We would not say, “Mary is happy about it,” that would seem trite and be a total understatement. We recognize that she was being immensely blessed by her heavenly Father. He is graciously allowing Mary to deliver His Son. Similarly, we also can “count them happy,” or better, “consider immensely blessed,” who endures “suffering affliction, with patience.” But what does it mean to “endure?”
“Endure.”
Endurance is the quality that causes the believers “to remain,” or to “abide.” They do not go away or retreat from their Lord. They do not “flee.” They do just the opposite, “…preserve: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ.” They “endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill-treatments”[1] (Thayer).
Those believers “…which have endured,”… “Those who in past days, like the prophets and Job, have endured trials.”[2] (JFB).
These are the ones indeed who are blessed by God!
“Ye have heard of the patience of Job.”
This is the same kind of patient endurance that we ought to see in all of the older men in our church. If they have walked with the Lord for a time, they should have this quality built into their character.
“That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience” (Titus 2:2).
“Patience of Job.”
Job is an outstanding example for us. He was a man and, therefore, sinful and imperfect. For a while, his patience was flawed, or maybe we should say immature. But by the end of the book that carries his name, he shows himself to be a godly learner and a patient follower of God.
“Job — …Though he showed much of impatience, yet he always returned to this, that he committed himself wholly to God, and at last showed a perfect spirit of enduring submission”[3] (JFB).
“We are reminded of Job as an example of patient endurance. His story shows both the necessity of a constant trust through times of calamity and God’s compassionate and merciful resolution of seasons of hardship”[4] (Guzik).
Child of God, don’t give up now! Wait and see what God has for you at the end of your story!
“And have seen the end of the Lord.”
“The End of the Lord.”
The end of the Lord’s working in Job’s life. How did his story end?
“…the end which the Lord gave. If Job had much to ‘endure,’ remember also Job’s happy ‘end.’ Hence, learn, though much tried, to ‘endure to the end’”[5] (JFB).
“…The happy conclusion to which God brought Job’s trials” [6] (Vincent).
Job’s testimony of God’s work in his life.
“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).
“So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses” (Job 42:12).
How sad it is when believers give up in the middle of their story. If we learn anything from the life of Job, it is to wait and let God change our hearts and end our story with His carefully chosen ending!
“That the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.”
The Lord, our Creator, made us. He knows us inside and out. Aren’t you glad that He knows what we need and when we need it? He understands how much pressure we can handle with His help. He sees when pity is called for in our lives. Indeed, He is “full of pity” and “very kind”[7] (Thayer). And because of this, He also is “of tender mercy,” which means He is merciful. He does not give us, His children, what we deserve, but He withholds that from us. We never deserve His mercy. Just look at how we treated Jesus before we knew Him! But our God loves us, and He is generous with His understanding. He is merciful to us. Amen!
“pitiful … of tender mercy — The former refers to the ‘feeling’; the latter, to the ‘act.’ His pity is shown in not laying on the patient endurer more trials than he [or she] is able to bear; His mercy, in His giving a happy ‘end’ to the trials”[8] (Bengel).
Dear believers, let’s trust God as He teaches us the lessons of patient endurance that we so need in these last days. As we learn to endure hardships, we do not just think about ourselves. He is taking care of us, and surely, since He is showing us His mercy daily, shouldn’t we be quick to extend mercy to our brothers and sisters as well? Jesus said,
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
Quote: “How are you doing, beloved? If you are like me (and most saints), you are experiencing manifold trials! Are you bearing up under them, leaning hard on the empowering of the Spirit (the only way we can supernaturally remain under the ‘load.’)?”[9]
[1] J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] JFB, Jamison, Fausset, and Brown. Jamison-Fausset-Brown’s Commentary, the electronic version in eSword. James 5:11.
[3] JFB, ibid. The emphasis is theirs.
[4] Guzik’s quote is from the Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword. James 5:11. The emphasis is mine.
[5] JFB, ibid.
[6] M.R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[7] J.H. Thayer, ibid.
[8] Bengel, as quoted in JFB, ibid. This emphasis theirs, and this emphasis mine.
[9] Quote Downloaded: Saturday, March 27, 2021.
From: https://www.preceptaustin.org/james-5-commentary