Endure Hardship

In James 5:1–6, James spoke of the exploitation and cruel oppression of the poor Christians by the filthy, wicked rich. They did not pay them their daily wages. They used the courts to rip poor people off their small plots of land. The rich were hoarding their wealth and fattening themselves for the day of God’s slaughter.

James says the cries of the poor laborers had already reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. The wicked rich will be punished both in history and at the end of history, when Christ the Judge returns to punish the wicked and to save his poor people. The second coming of Christ is imminent. It is the next event in redemptive history.

The corrupt preachers of rich countries preach: “Receive Jesus. He will make you healthy, wealthy, wise, powerful, and famous.” Do not believe this lie. Jesus did not teach it, nor did his brother James. It is a different gospel.

Jesus taught his disciples to endure hardship, to turn the other cheek, and to be longsuffering. They did not teach us to liberate ourselves through revolution, violence, or terrorism. We are to love our enemies, pray for them, and be patient in suffering. We are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, as Peter exhorted: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. . . . When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:21, 23).

Remember what Jesus spoke to Pilate: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matt. 26:53–54). And he prayed, “Not my will but thine be done,” and went to be crucified.

Jesus tells all his disciples that they must deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow him to death. Even now, Christians are being persecuted and killed in many countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, and others, while the Western world says nothing and is sending money to these countries.

So in this text (Jas. 5:7–11) James counsels us how to endure hardship. This is a theme throughout the Scriptures. The writer of Proverbs says, “Do not say, ‘I’ll pay you back for this wrong!’ Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you” (Prov. 20:22). We are to endure hardship, be patient in affliction, and wait for the Lord to right all wrongs in his time. About seven times in this passage, using various words, James exhorts us to be patient, to wait and to endure hardship.

James gives three commands in this passage. First, he says we should be patient with difficult people and terrible situations (vv. 7–8). He gives three examples of patience: the prophets, Job, and the farmer. Second, he tells us we must strengthen our hearts. Third, we must stop complaining about fellow believers. These all are our responsibilities.

Be Patient

James begins by commanding us to be patient in the midst of affliction. Paul said the same thing: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom. 12:12). We are to praise God, not to curse people and situations. We are to be longsuffering until the parousia, that is, the coming of Christ the Judge, who will right all wrongs and deliver his people. We are to trust God, rest in his word, pray always, hope in the glorious appearing of Christ, live a holy life, build each other up by our spiritual gifts, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and be filled with the holy Scripture.

We are given grace, not only to believe in Jesus Christ, but also to suffer for him, as Paul tells us: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (Phil. 1:29). It has been granted. It is a spiritual gift both to believe and to suffer.

What type of suffering? Jesus himself tells us, “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. . . . Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:17, 21–22).

The Christian life is not devoid of suffering, as modern preachers would have us believe. No, the purpose of divine eternal election is not to make us rich and famous, but to make us holy and blameless. Throughout the Bible we read, “Be ye holy because I am holy.” Christ will have a holy bride, a pure virgin.

God ordained suffering as part of his program to cleanse us from evil and make us holy. So Paul writes, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). He also said, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Rom. 5:3–4). James himself said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (Jas. 1:2–4).

1. THE EXAMPLE OF THE PROPHETS

James says, “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” (v. 10). For example, prophet Micaiah was persecuted while four hundred lying prophets of Baal ate at King Ahab’s table (1 Kings 22). And the writer to the Hebrews described the suffering of God’s people, including prophets:

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated.” Do you still want to believe in Jesus? The liars, the frauds told you that if you receive Jesus, you will get wealthy. “The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. (Heb. 11:32–38)

Other prophets suffered in their service to God. About Jeremiah we read, “When the priest Pashur . . . heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple” (Jer. 20:1–2). In King Zedekiah’s time, “they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud” (Jer. 38:6). In Babylon, the three Hebrew children were thrown into the fire; later, Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den.

Jesus speaks about the prophets in his lament over Jerusalem: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23:37). And Jesus himself, who was the Prophet, was crucified. Jesus’ brother James, the author of this epistle, was cruelly killed in AD 62. Later, Paul was beheaded and Peter crucified. So James exhorts, we must learn from the prophets.

2. THE EXAMPLE OF JOB

James also says, “You have heard of the patience of Job and you have seen how the Lord blessed him in the end” (v. 11, author’s wording). The believers came to know about Job by reading the Bible. In order to be patient, we are to read God’s book. The devil predicted that Job would curse God if God would afflict him. So God permitted the destruction of Job’s children and all his properties. Job’s own wife counseled him to curse God and die a cursed death, and all his friends turned against him. Job himself was afflicted with severe diseases. Yet he never cursed God. He continued to trust God, and God blessed him. He did not die. In Job 42 we read that he was blessed by the Lord, and prospered again for many years. Our God is rich in mercy, and his love for us is great. Jesus Christ is our compassionate high priest (see Hebrews 2 and 4).

But the truth is, other people of God were killed, and God did not deliver them from death. God was pleased to take them home to himself. So we must always keep this in mind: Jesus conquered death for us by his death on the cross. Christ lives, and because he lives, we will live also forever. He has given us eternal life, and we shall never perish. We are eternally secure in his mighty hands.

What does the Bible say about the death of God’s people? Paul spoke of it often. He wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). He also said dying “is better by far” (Phil. 1:22), and, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). In 2 Corinthians 12 he recounted how he himself was caught up into paradise while he was living. Elsewhere, the psalmist says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:15). And John wrote, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Rev. 14:13). Finally, Paul triumphantly stated, “Neither death nor life, . . . nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).

3. THE EXAMPLE OF THE FARMER

James also tells us to learn from the farmer: “Behold, the farmer!” (v. 7). In Palestine, the farmer waits expectantly for the precious fruit of the earth—the grain, the wine, the oil, and so forth. So he patiently waits for the rain that God promised in his covenant love—the early and latter rain: “Then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil” (Deut. 11:14).

The farmer waits patiently, and the Lord blesses his work, and he is provided for with food. When there is no rain, there is no food. But, thank God, he sends us rain.

So we are commanded to suffer patiently until the coming of the Lord. But he has not come yet. It has been two thousand years. He has promised to come. The New Testament gives us over three hundred references to Christ’s second coming—one reference for every thirteen verses in the New Testament. He has not come yet because he wants all his elect to repent and be saved, even those yet to be born. So Paul says, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. . . . Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him” (2 Pet. 3:9, 15).

The truth is, he will surely come. Only the Father knows when (Matt. 24:36). But he is coming soon. In Revelation 22, the writer tells us three times that he is coming soon: “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book. . . . Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. . . . He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (vv. 7, 12, 20). And Paul says, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16). He also says, “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:6–8).

Christ may not come in our lifetime. So what should we do? We must be patient and occupy until he comes. In other words, live for God. Do the business of living until he comes, or until we die and go to be with Christ and with the spirits of just men made perfect and with millions and millions of holy angels in joyful array.

Strengthen Your Hearts

The second command James gives is: “Strengthen your hearts” (Greek text, v. 8). Jesus himself strengthened his heart as he thought about his crucifixion. (PGM) The Bible says he set his face toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:51).

Our word “steroid” comes from the Greek word for “strengthen.” How can we who are weak endure hardship in this world with patience? Make your hearts strong! We need to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Our strength is in the Lord. When we are weak, then we are strong.

Consider the following scriptures that tell us how to be strong:

1. Colossians 1:11: “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.”
2. Colossians 1:29: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”
3. Ephesians 1:19–20: “and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.”
4. Ephesians 3:16–17: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love.”
5. Ephesians 3:20: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
6. Ephesians 5:18: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be [being] filled with the Spirit.”
7. Acts 20:32: “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
8. Hebrews 10:24–25: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
9. Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” We have a responsibility to strengthen our brothers and sisters.
10. Luke 22:40: “On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’”

So we have a responsibility to strengthen our own hearts as well as the hearts of our brothers and sisters. The word of God will strengthen us. And we must pray, as Jesus told his disciples.

When we sin, it is because we don’t fear God, we don’t love God, we did not pray, we never read the Bible, you never sought fellowship, you never asked the Holy Spirit to come upon you and strengthen you in your inner being. You are independent. You are arrogant.

God strengthens us so that we can be patient and enduring.

Stop Complaining

The third command James gives is, “Stop complaining against one another” (v. 9). This can include a husband complaining against his wife, or a wife complaining against her husband, or others complaining about their brothers and sisters in Christ, always saying our problem is someone else’s fault.

As we face hardships and afflictions for the sake of the name of Christ, we are tempted to take our frustrations out upon our loved ones, our fellow believers. The people in James’ church were doing this; now James tells them, “Stop it!” as we read in the Greek text.

These people were not strong in the Lord. They were not longsuffering toward others or patient toward difficult circumstances. They were not fixing their eyes on Jesus and being strengthened by him. They were not heeding the exhortations of the Hebrews writer: “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. . . . Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 3:1; 12:2).

Our complaining points to our own arrogance, independence, and neglect of the means of grace. We are to bear with one another in love, not complain against one another. We are to love one another as Christ loved his church and gave himself up for her.

Paul tells us, “Do everything without complaining or arguing” (Phil. 2:14). He also says, “And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel” (1 Cor. 10:10). So James tells us,” Don’t murmur against one another lest you be judged.” Then he gives a sober warning: “Behold, the Judge is standing even now at the door!” (v. 9).

Stop murmuring against one another! The Lord will discipline us for our sins; even now he is poised, ready to do so. Paul says, “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 11:30). The Judge was standing at the door and making them sick. The Lord disciplines his people, and there is a purpose in that discipline. The Hebrews writer says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. . . . Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:11, 14).

I pray that we will recognize that the suffering we experience is God-ordained and for our good. Therefore, he commands us to be patient as we endure hardship, and what the Lord commands, he will enable us to do. So stop murmuring, and strengthen your hearts in this incomparably great power of God, which is available for us—his incomparably great power to usward who believe (Eph. 1:19).

Even as we face temptation, there will be a way out: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13). Sometimes the way out is death itself. It is better to die than to deny Jesus Christ.

Troubles cause us to trust God who raises the dead, as Paul wrote, “Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9). Troubles cause us to examine our lives, confess our sins, and find mercy. So when you find yourself lying down in your sickness, you should examine your life and ask, “What sin did I commit that I may be reaping the consequences of now?”

Troubles cause us to draw near to God. Troubles cause us to turn to the word of God, which is able to build us up and strengthen us. Troubles cause us to pray always. Troubles cause us to go to church and to hear the word preached by a God-ordained minister of the gospel. Troubles cause us to enjoy the fellowship of the saints, who will stir us up and spur us on in the narrow way of holiness that leads to heaven.

What Paul counseled timid Timothy is for us also: “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:8). He also said, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. . . . This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained” (2 Tim. 2:3, 8–9). Then he said, “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5).

In verse 11 James says, “We consider those who are suffering as blessed.” Jesus himself said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:10–12). Elsewhere James said, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (Jas. 1:12).

Jesus may not come in our lifetime. So he tells us, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.” Jesus may not make us rich and famous, but he surely will make us holy and blameless so that we may dwell with God in eternal joy. Without holiness, no one can see the Lord. Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming soon.” Let us also say, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”