Fellowship in the Word

Jason Gephart: Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gephart challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

Bil Gebhardt: You see it means you have to have a long-range view of life. Do you live like that? Do you think about that in the future? Do you think about what choices you're making today or this week in light of forever? That the Lord could come back or that you could go to be with him. G. Campbell Morgan wrote this. He said to me the second coming is the perpetual light on the path that makes my present bearable. I never lay my head on my pillow without thinking that maybe before the morning breaks the final morning may have dawned.

I never begin my work without thinking that perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin his own. I think only in light of the second coming of Christ or me going to him. That's what he is saying. Be patient until the Lord comes.

Jason Gephart: Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gephart. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gephart now as once again he shows us how God's word meets our world.

Bil Gebhardt: Sometime ago, a woman named Nancy Gibbs wrote an article for Time magazine and she entitled it how America has run out of time. Part of what she wrote is this. She said there was once a time when time was money. Both could be wasted or both well spent, but in the end gold was the richer prize. As with almost any commodity, however, the value depends on scarcity. And these are the days of a time famine. Time that once seemed free and elastic has grown tight and elusive. And so our measure of its worth is dramatically changed.

Time, according to poster Lou Harris, may have become America's most precious commodity. Time, less and less of it as time goes on. If those statements are true and we've run out of time, then if that is the case, then waiting has to become the most hated and frustrating of experience you could have. How many of you like to wait? I mean we wait in bank lines, we wait in doctor's offices, we wait in supermarket lines, we wait on the freeway. David Jeremiah writes this. He says if you notice how long we wait when we go out to eat, we wait to be seated and then we wait for the menu.

Then we wait to place our order. Then we wait for our food and then we wait for the check. And finally we wait for the opportunity to pay the check. And the restaurant has the audacity to refer to the one who oversees all this as the waiter. He said the customer is the waiter. Believe me, I know. It's not new. The great 19th century pastor Phillips Brooks was seen by a close friend pacing the floor like a caged lion. And he said, what's the trouble, Dr. Brooks? And Phillips Brooks said this, the trouble is I'm in a hurry, but God isn't.

You ever experienced that? How patient are you? How much will you endure? And especially when things are going bad in your life, the circumstances are bad or your health's bad, the economy's bad. When things are going bad for you and you find yourself suffering, how patient are you? How do you endure? It's an important question. You see, God often has something else in mind whenever you and I go through trials or find ourselves suffering. He has something in mind that many of us never think about and we always should. He is determined to use the trials and tribulations of your life and my life to develop a single virtue in our lives, patience.

That's what he wants to do. He wants to develop patience. Now you may wonder why? Because your patience reveals your faith. Over and over again in the word of God you're going to see this. Now I know you don't like that. I mean what we like is I'd like to have a small amount of faith like a mustard seed that could move mountains. And I have the kind of faith that I can name anything and claim anything and God's going to do it for me. But you won't find that in the word of God. But what you will find in the word of God over and over again is that the the amount of faith you have is directly proportional to the amount of patience you have, especially when you suffer.

The Apostle Paul understood this in 1st Corinthians chapter 13 with the love chapter when he's talking about all the great things about love. He says love is patient. In Galatians when he talks about the fruit of the spirit that if you're controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, what will be evidenced in your life? And part of the fruit of the spirit is patience. In Ephesians he said that if you have a life worthy of God's calling in your life, you will be patient. In Colossians part of a long list of virtues by which we are to clothe ourselves and one of those virtues patience shows up in Thessalonians, shows up in Timothy, patience.

I believe without a doubt that the in order to measure the amount of faith you really have in your life, you have to ask yourself one question. How patient am I when I suffer? How patient am I in the midst of trials? Open your Bible to James chapter 5 and verse 7. James 5 and verse 7. In verses 7 through 11 James wants to talk about one thing. He wants to talk about patience. As a matter of fact, seven times in six verses he uses different words, but he uses the word patience or endurance. It's the most important thing to James that you understand it.

Now remember, this holy epistle is written about one thing. What does real faith look like? In every aspect of this whole book has been what does real faith look like? And here he's going to tell us that real faith is patient. Even when it's suffering, it's patient. The words that he uses, one of the main words he uses is macro macro means big or long. The means to suffer. It means long suffering. We are you long suffering? Can you suffer for a long time? Build into the idea often translated patience. Another word he uses is the word he uses the word which means endure.

And it means can you endure real difficulty in your life? That's what he's talking about. Jerry Bridges writes this. He said this aspect of patience is the ability to suffer a long time under the mistreatment of others without growing resentful or bitter. The occasions for exercising this quality are numerous. And they vary from malicious wrongs all the way to seemingly innocent practical jokes. They include ridicule, scorn, insults, undeserved rebukes as well as outright persecution. The Christian who is the victim of office politics or organizational power, he says place must react with long suffering and patience.

The believing husband or wife who is rejected and mistreated by an unbelieving spouse also needs this kind of patience. That's what James wants to talk about. And the question for you and I is are you really patient when it comes to your own suffering? So he starts out in these first two verses and he says this. Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil being patient about it until he gets the early and late rains. You too be patient. Strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord is near.

The first question he answers is this. How long should I be patient? Now I know for most of us, you know, we want to measure it in hours, sometimes days, rarely weeks, almost never months. What about years? Well, he's going to answer. Notice how he answers it in verse 7. Therefore be patient, brethren. How long? Until the coming of the Lord. There it is. Be patient until the coming of the Lord. You mean how long do I have to be patient until the coming of the Lord? You see, that 's an amazing be patient until the Lord comes.

Three times in these verses he talks about the coming of the Lord, the parousia. It means his presence. Actually a better way to translate it would be the arrival of the Lord that he's coming. This truth of the second coming of Christ appears over 500 times in scripture. It's all the way through the word of God. He says, therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. And in fact then in verse 8 he says, you too be patient and strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord is near. You mean even when I'm suffering, especially when you're suffering?

Hold your place and just go couple pages to your right to 1st Peter chapter 1. 1st Peter chapter 1. Peter's going to pick up on the same theme. By the way, the main theme of the book of Peter suffering. The secondary theme in the book of James suffering. Both groups are really suffering. Peter wants to talk about suffering, the kind of thing we don't like in our life. But here he says this in verse 6. In this way you greatly rejoice that even though for a little while if necessary you've been distressed by various trials.

Sounds a lot like what James started out the book of James with. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. Same thing Peter says. In this you greatly rejoice that even though for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire or judgment may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation or second coming of Jesus Christ. Notice what he calls it in the beginning of verse 7.

The proof of your faith. You want to prove your faith? What will it endure? How patient will you be? How long suffering will you be? You see, for so many of us we never want to think about it that way. We don't want to think about it in the term of measuring my faith. And I think the reason is simple. If I said how much faith you have, it's kind of an abstract term and you can say, well, I got a lot of faith. And then I say, well, how patient are you especially when you're suffering and what do you realize?

I don't have near as much as I thought. I don't find myself patiently enduring this. I find this a struggle for me cuz it is a struggle. That's what he is saying to us. It's not new. To the Romans Paul wrote this. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us. Now Paul understands suffering. You've heard me say it over and over again, but the guy has went through it. He's he's hated everywhere he goes. He's an older man. Some say he might have walked 6,000 miles.

I can't even imagine that in your late 60s. He was beaten virtually in every city he went to. He's beaten with rods. He was stoned and left for dead. He was shipwrecked, snake bit. Anything that could go wrong. And then he had a thorn in the flesh that he entreated the Lord three times to get rid of because it was so painful for him. Paul knows what it is to suffer. He suffered for what we would call for years. And notice what he said. These are momentary light afflictions when compared to the glory that's coming.

You see, because the glory that's coming is eternal. God's an eternal being. He's on the other side of the curtain. You see, from God's point of view time's just a creation. And remember Peter said a thousand years is like a day and a day's like a thousand years of the Lord. Time doesn't mean much to him. God knows that when you go to be with him, you're there forever. It's an extendedly long period of time. So whatever you and I thought was a long time of suffering here, God would not consider it long at all because he's on the other side of the curtain.

So he says we need to be patient here. We need to understand who we are. Now back to James. James uses an analogy. His first of three illustrations in verse 7. He said the farmer waits for his precious produce of the soil being patient about it until he gets the early and the late rains. Clement, the great Greek church father, said that James, the Lord's brother, was a farmer. And probably true cuz he's relatively close to the time of James and a a typical He loved to use illustrations of Palestinian agriculture. You see, it's a little bit different than the growing season in America.

Whenever a farmer in Palestine would sow the seed, he would sow the seed and then wait for the early rain. The early rain always occurred in October or November. But after November it didn't rain anymore. So it wasn't like our weather. It just didn't rain. But he sowed the seed. So all he can do is wait and he waits for the latter rain. The latter rain occurs in April and May. And when the latter rain comes then his crop grows and he can harvest it. Every year he had to go through the same thing. He just had to wait.

Cuz remember if the latter rain doesn't come, he's lost the crop. And so consequently he uses that as his illustration. That's not new. In Deuteronomy Moses wrote this. Then I will give you the rain of in your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain that you may gather your grain, your new wine and your oil. Every year they listened and waited in anticipation of the rain that was to come. And then in verse 8 he says, you too be patient, strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord is near. Jerry tells us something patience does for you.

It strengthens your heart. That word is and it means to make your hearts firm or toughen you up. Uh the Williams paraphrase says this. You must put iron into your hearts. In other words, the more patient you are, the more you endure, the stronger your heart gets. That's already one of the benefits you have for patience. You see, he says that's what happens. You need to be patient. And you need to be patient, he says, until he says the Lord actually comes. You see, it means you have to have a long-range view of life. Do you live like that?

Do you think about that in the future? Do you think about what choices you're making today or this week in light of forever that the Lord could come back or that you could go to be with him. G. Campbell Morgan wrote this. He said to me the second coming is the perpetual light on the path that makes my present bearable. I never lay my head on my pillow without thinking that maybe before the morning breaks the final morning may have dawned. I never begin my work without thinking that perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin his own.

I think only in light of the second coming of Christ or me going to him. That's what he is saying. Be patient until the Lord comes. Secondly, in verse 9 he says this. Be patient and let the judge judge. Now I know that's not grammatically too good, but we're going to go with it. Be patient. Let the judge judge. Now by the way, when we're suffering, we all have a propensity to do what? To judge. Well, I don't know if I judge. Well, when you whine, you're judging. When you complain, you're judging. Those are judgments you're making.

Notice what he says in verse 9. He says, do not complain, brethren, against one another so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold the judge is standing right at the door. Don't become resentful. Don't complain. is the word. Means to groan within. But isn't that what we do? Whenever you're suffering, isn't that exactly what you do? You just start complaining. And and by the way, and the other thing is it's always somebody's fault. You always pick out some person or some group or something or the system out there. And the reason you're suffering is because it's their fault.

We do this over and over again. We're always forming these kind of judgments. He said don't do that. He said you you don't want to do that at all. The thing I hear often especially when someone's really got some suffering ahead of them, we run into these kind of questions. Why this? Why me? Why? Why did God do this to me? Why? You see, that's what suffering does to us. We start forming judgments. Even take something like as difficult as death is and you read and study the stages of grief. The very first stage of grief is denial that's I can't believe this happened.

That's usually pretty short-lived. But the second stage of grief is what? Anger turned outward. It's somebody's fault. It's that hospital's fault. It's that doctor's fault. It's the pharmacist's fault. It's that driver's fault. See, it's got to be I got to be mad at somebody. James says do not complain, brethren, against one another so that you yourselves may not be judged. You see, you're not waiting patiently when you're judging someone else. He said when you do that, you invite the judgment of the Lord. Hold your place and go with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10.

I don't know if you ever think about the judgment seat of Christ. It's something to think about though. All believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This has nothing to do with going to heaven. Uh that's the great white throne judgment. That doesn't include us at all. This is the judgment seat of Christ or the bema of Christ. In verse 10 he says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, all of us so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether they're good or bad.

Now he doesn't shed a lot of light on it in 2nd Corinthians, but he does in 1st Corinthians. So now go with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 4. 1st Corinthians 4 verse 5. Paul gives us the same warning that James does. He says this. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time. But wait. That's in italics. The translators did a nice job. But what does it mean wait? Be patient, endure, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts.

Each man praise them will come to them from God. Let the judge judge, not you. Don't start complaining about other people. Don't turn your frustration, your pain on others. Now what happens at the judgment seat? Well, he tells us a little bit here. Notice that he says in verse 12 of chapter 3 of 1st Corinthians right before that section I just read. If any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, that's your choice. Each man's work will become evident for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire or judgment.

And the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he'll suffer loss, but he himself will be saved yet as through fire. He said at the judgment seat of Christ and we saw that with the word motives, the Lord will judge you. And everything that happens to you in life, you'll be given gold, silver, precious stones, reward or wood, hay and straw. It's consumed. The key is what's your attitude. So whenever you're suffering, I can tell you what the key is.

Do you suffer with patience? Are you willing to endure? Or you would rather judge and whine and complain? Cuz he said if you judge and whine and complain, he said you're not going to receive a reward of wood, hay or straw. Now as your pastor, I just want to tell you this. Don't waste your suffering. So many Christians waste their stuff suffering. It's a great time for you to grow, but it's a great time for future reward. It's up to you. It really comes down to are you going to endure this patiently or are you going to complain about it and judge it?

Now back to James. He now goes to in verse 10 he goes to a another illustration. He says as an example, brethren, of of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. He uses the whole group. I know that you'd often think if you thought of the Old Testament prophets, you'd probably in your head think this. Well, those guys are cool. That would have been neat. You're an Old Testament prophet like Isaiah or a Jeremiah or Ezekiel or Daniel or even what they call the lesser ones, Zechariah and Zephaniah and Amos and Hosea and Malachi.

These are prophets, but it would be great. It wasn't great to be a prophet. Nobody liked prophets. All the prophets suffered. All they did was tell people the truth that God told them to tell them and they all suffered. And they didn't suffer for a week. They didn't suffer for a month. They suffered for a lifetime. That's what happened to prophets. He said, look at the prophets. He said, all they did was what God asked them to do. And they suffered their whole life for it.

Jason Gephart: You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gephart on the radio ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remembers that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online. At that website you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible.

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