The Strand Study Bible

Written From Jerusalem (See Acts 12:25)

JAMES

2089

lives starts with information and ends with prayer. Hosea said in Hosea 4:6:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge : because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee … Biblical priority teaches us that prayer should to be the “last stop” on the way to discovering God’s will for our lives. 5:4 This word ( Saboth ) is a military term meaning, “ host; armies ” (Isa 1:9 and Rom 9:29). 5:7 Learning patience ( Be patient therefore ) is likened to three occupations: 1. Farming – just as a farmer learns patience by waiting for the return (yield) of the seed that he has sown (vs 7-8), so a Christian learns patience by waiting for the return of Christ (Lk 19:11-26). Jesus said in Luke 19:13, “ Occupy till I come .” Christians are taught to learn patience by engaging in the business of the Master until He returns (Mt 25:14-30). 2. Preaching – just as a prophet learns patience by enduring criticism (vs 9-10), so a Christian learns patience by not being critical ( Grudge not one against another ). The Psalmist said in Psalm 1:1, “ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful .” Christians are taught to learn patience by refusing to engage in scornful activity. 3. Living – just as Job learned patience through suffering (vs 11), so a Christian learns patience by reacting properly to the tests and trials in life. Abbot Thomas Keating in Crisis of Faith notes:

There is nothing so humbling as waiting –that is why time was created, so that we might learn to wait. Waiting makes you feel inferior to the person who is keeping you waiting. And this begins to dawn on you the longer you have to wait. That is why some people cannot stand it any more and get up and walk out… By waiting we come to accept the fact that God is the Lord; we are only a creature, and whatever we have is His pure gift. 1

THE ADAGE IS TRUE: Your patience with God determines His purpose with you 5:9 Carrying a grudge is holding something against someone, which God never does (Colo 2:13). 5:11 What James is saying is: It pays ( we count them happy ) to be patient with God ( which endure ). He is certainly patient with us (Psa 86:15, Isa 30:18 and II Pet 3:7). Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life , said in one of his interviews:

People ask me, what is the purpose of life? And I respond: in a nutshell, life is a preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body –but not the end of me. I may live 60-100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act –the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort…you can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. 2

God is far more interested in our holiness (spiritual well-being) than in our happiness (mental well-being); far more interested in our character than in our contentment; far more interested in our being morally healthy than in our being physically healthy (III Jn 2). God is more interested in what we are than in what we do . That is why we are called “human beings,” not “human doings.” THE ADAGE IS TRUE: The diamond of one’s character, formed under the pressure of adversity, more than compensates for the loss of one’s temporal wealth (Job 23:10 and I Pet 1:7) NOTE – Contrary to popular belief, bad things don’t happen to good people. According to the Scriptures, there are no “good” people (Job 5:7 & 14:1, Psa 14:3 & 51:5, Eccl 7:20, Jere 17:9 and Rom 3:10,23). On the other hand, because of God’s “goodness,” good things can happen to bad people (Rom 5:6-8 & 8:28, Mt 5:45, Psa 8:1-4 and Gen 50:20). 5:14 The “ oil ” that is spoken of here carries no supernatural powers. It is a symbol of the presence of the HOLY SPIRIT (Heb 1:9 and Psa 133:2 ). The real source of healing is always the Lord (… and the Lord shall raise him up – vs 15). 5:15 Sometimes sickness is due to sin (Jn 5:1-14), thus the “ prayer of faith ” (confession of the known sin in a believer’s life) is required for healing. The “ prayer of faith ” does not suggest that God always answers prayer. Quite the contrary. All prayer, including prayer for healing, is always subject to the will of God ( I Jn 5:14 -15). God’s Word plainly tells us that some, who were healed, had “no” faith at all (Mt 8:5-8,13, Mk 2:1-12, Acts 3:6-8 and II Ki 5:1-14), while others, who were healed, had “little” faith (Mk 9:17-27), and still others, who were not healed, had “great” faith (II Cor 12:7-9). Therefore, healing is not left up to the believer, but is left up to God. NOTE – It is not always God’s will to heal. If it was, some people would never get sick enough to die, and that would contradict Scripture (Heb 9:27). Those desiring scriptural healing are encouraged to go to their local pastors ( Mk 16:18 and Lk 7:21 ), not their local faith healers. READ NEXT - Acts 13:1 - 18:10

1 Keating, Thomas. Crisis of Faith . Locust Valley, NY: Living Flame Press. 1970. Print. 2 Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life , Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, n.d. Print.