12 Evidences of Faith (Part 11)

Welcome to leading the way. Featuring the practical vital insights of Dr. Michael you sent trouble putting faith into action in the daily challenges of life you know any coworkers harassing you because of what you stand for or what you stand against friends and family wondering why you waste your time at church. Now some of you might be going through tough times right now some of you experiencing some harassment in the workplace summer experiencing being ostracized other experiencing mocking the nonbelieving members of the family. Whatever it is you're going to listen to me very carefully. Please the word of God for you today is this stand your ground. Be patient on the phone. I know an audio message is not the solution to problems but I can promise that healing what God has to say in his word just may give you the tools and the strength you need to take a stand for the gospel stand that will change your life and the lives of those around you. So let's listen together now to Dr. Michael you set in today's leading the way. Now this is the second from the lost of a series of messages from very purpose of James bottling it. 12. Evidence of price comes to help us see the importance of perseverance and patience in the midst of life's trials and is found in James chapter 5 verses 7 to 12. The apostle James circles back to the very first one. The very first evidence of faith in James chapter 1 verses 24 considers all what joy, my brothers, when you fall into trials he comes back something you need to remember.

As the apostle James being inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words, the church, the believers were facing one of the most than the severest of all persecutions and many of them are being martyred.

And James himself. Soon after he wrote this epistle. He was martyred himself and so in the midst of the suffering in the midst of this persecution. He writes these words, he tells us that the why you're going to experience perseverance and patience is when you look forward to that day, the day when God will right all wrongs. The day when God will perfectly heal the world in which we live, when God will fix all broken things when God will restore all that was lost, he is saying to them. Let the expectations of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ be the source of your patience and let the whole of the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ be the source of your perseverance twice the right and blow through the brain whether James mean by the word patients will perseverance the word is coming out of the military out of soldiering means stand your ground when you feel you running away in the world of soldiering a soldier who gets caught in the crossfire. Shells are raining all around him and that soldier when he is and that kind of a situation feels like being anywhere else except what is. But the victory will not be one. This way, and he is saying, you must carry on the fight. You must never give up. You must never quit. You must never surrender, you keep on going because the victors around the corner.

Now some of you might be going through tough times right now some of you experiencing some harassment in the workplace summer experiencing being ostracized other experiencing mocking, but nonbelieving members of the family or you might be having unbelieving spouse who is making life difficult for you. Whatever it is he going to listen to me very carefully. Please, sometimes, that attack can be so relentless sometimes that the experience of that suffering can be traumatic sometimes is unbearable, but you must never give up because the word of God for you today is this stand your ground. Be patient on the fire. James teaches us here. The secret of patients. The secret of perseverance is the secret of standing your ground and never surrender. Never give up and he gives us three examples. The first example he gives us is that of the former. In the second example is that of the prophets in the third example he gives us is of Job. He singled him out.

Look at verse seven.

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop of farmer would be foolish to plant the seed on Monday and then go out the following Monday looking for harvest I will be foolish right he would be foolish if he sows the seed in couple of weeks later he digs up those seedlings to find out how's going where is it now that's something we do. There is something here, especially about farming in Israel they plan in the fall time in the Middle East because you get an early rain affected novel some real translations of the early and let the rain Dell Miranda comes in around September October comes in and really kind of moisten the soil and prepares it for the planting for the seed to grow in.

Then the farmer would wait until the spring time around March and April, where the let the rain comes in the spring rain comes into mature the harvest and between September October March April May, the farmer waits patiently. He waits for the crop because the farmer knows that the heart must be worth the wait because the farmer knows that the joy of harvesting of the his crop is going to make the way worth the wait is some of you probably saying Michael, that's wonderful metaphor that just sounds good, but how is this going to help me with what I'm going through right now. Listen carefully. I want you to remember God is producing a Hamas and everyone of you if you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ is producing a harvest and you God wants your life to be fruit filled because you want your life and mine to be productive for his kingdom and one of the ways he's able to bring about a great harvest is when it permits trials that comes our way, but he is our natural tendency is to be impatient. In fact, the greatest challenge. Every time I preach on the subject did God put me through something that just me and always say Lord I do want to learn patience, but I wish you would hurry up my natural tendency is our pick up this evening and see how it's doing prematurely. I want to keep ripping up the seedlings and don't give it a chance to mature. But what happens when I keep doing this when you keep doing this.

What happens will forcing God to do what he really does not want to do we force God to keep on planting the same scene over and over and over again. We force God to keep going over the same grounds in our lives. Why because we refuse to learn the lessons that he wants us to learn that while the farmer is waiting for the harvest is not idle, not sitting on his blessed assurance doing nothing. He is not sitting in his hammock at sipping lemonade. No no no no no, a farmer works all year round.

They are working on the bonds and getting them prepared for the harvest they are sharpening their tools.

Getting ready for the harvest they are pulling weeds and in maintaining healthy environment for the crop they are infesting sweats and aching muscles while they waited for the crop. The farm is constantly working and when James should wait patiently. He is not suggesting that we sit back and do nothing and just wait for God to do it all. That is not what the farmer does. But like the farmer was waiting for the time of the harvest. We are constantly witnessing constantly praying we consummate the seating were constantly giving. We constantly studying the word of God so that we may reap a harvest of maturity and wisdom.

Now, there are some people who think that waiting for the Lord in writing for the Lord's return, particularly music needed throughout history, somebody comes and prophesied a day that the Lord is going to come in X, Y, and Z not focus on stores in the past. A lot of people put on the white robes and head for the hills there waiting for the Lord to give you got to the mound. Be closer to the Lord when he returns. But that's not what God said. Jesus said occupy till I come works till I come. In fact he said in Luke 1243 Blessed is the servant whom his master finds while tearing when he comes, is not going to find them idle doing nothing that is not a good faithful servant. Are you watching for the Lord's return. If you're watching for his return. And not just I am waiting you gonna find that even in the worst piles of your life. You are going to experience victory because your eyes are fixed on that great day of the harvest. Look at verse nine don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you be judged. When James talks about judgment. He's not talking about the judgment of hell because the believer had escaped the judgment of hell that there is going to be a time for the believers that they have the rewards. In fact, one of the characteristics of farmers is that there always helping each other that they're always encouraging one another that there always lending hands to each other that they're always supporting one another that they will not waste their energy in their time attacking each other on fighting over silly things are not important to them. They got too much work to do something modern day churches need to learn from the farmer's and then the second example, the James gives us is that of the prophets of old verse 10 is an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. So what is he saying here is saying that many times when you're fully committed to obeying the will of God in your life you gonna face opposition to face obstacles and you gonna face difficulties. Sometimes suffering can be a direct exotic result of obedience and that is why the apostle Paul said to Timothy in second Timothy 312 is what he said. Indeed, all how many all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. I don't like the stuff up.

It's in the way to God. I want to speak to that faithful Christian who needlessly hard on themselves who are constantly blaming themselves for everything they got in.

Guilt that does not belong to him. They often beat themselves up for circumstances with which they had nothing to do.

I want to speak to that person for a moment, because these folks are continuously beating themselves up and saying what I must've send them. I must've done something wrong and I'm just not recognizing God must be mad at me, and he must be punishing me listen to. If you have been a faithful spouse and your spouse walked out on you. That is not your burden.

Have you been a faithful parent and your other child is wandered away from the fall that is not your burden. If you have been hard-working, loyal employee and your boss is mistreating you that is not your burden.

If you have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Don't automatically assume that God is punishing you because of some sin. Listen to me, the Holy Spirit of God convicts us when we sin, and I thought about this many times when the Holy Spirit convicts you, you come to the Lord to confess the sin you repent of it. Then you move on.

Don't go over it again and again and again and again that is not of God.

Listen to me this is not the God of the Bible. Maybe some other God. That's a false perception of God because that is not our heavenly daddy is. See God is not the God who delights in hurting his children living member well never confused.

It was Paul's obedience to the will of God that brought him a whole bunch of sufferings from stoning to lashing to imprisonment. The shipwreck, it was the obedience of the disciples every one of them was Margaret save one. The apostle John in the Old Testament saints that James is talking about here. Every one of them suffered for speaking the truth and God gives him to us as an example for encouragement and showing us that suffering Megan's strong enough week there suffering made them stand their ground rent runaway Elijah told I have is going to be 3 1/2 years without rain and Elijah himself become a victim of that… The care of him and when Daniel made up his mind that God must be obeyed above man ended up in the den of lions. Isaiah spoke fearlessly for God during the most turbulent times in the history of Israel and although he impacted King Hezekiah for good. But rabbinic tradition tells us that his evil wicked son Hezekiah's evil and wicked son not only persecuted but executed the prophet Isaiah the prophet Jeremiah. You see such deep anguish in his soul that he become known as the weeping prophet. Why did all the servants of God suffered as they did so that God's power be manifested in them. Why the faithful servants of God suffered also that they might have an eloquent testimony for us. Beloved, listen to me. I tell you this experientially. The better you know God, the better you know his word, the greater your encouragement during the foggy trials of life, so we gives us an example of the farmer.

He gives us an example of the prophets and thirdly finally gives us an example of Job listen to me. I'm no stranger to brokenness and life. But what I get really irritated when I read the book of Job. I get irritated by the so-called Job's comforters. Can you let me say this in your here probably again for the rest of my life that the times of my brokenness are the times of my great growth in the walk.

My walk with the Lord.

When the sun is shining and everything is going well, that's not the time when I'm growing the most from reality. There is no victory without battles. You will not rejoice in victory. If you did not know the pain of defeat. You will never sympathize with another person who's hurting until you've experienced that hurt yourself most often, we really do not understand what prayer really is all about and what it really means until were going through the fiery furnace and then we began to really understand until we really hit on these to the ground.

I'm not talking about physical needs, but emotional and spiritual will understand from my friend. I want to tell your God is a goal for each one of his children feel believer. God has a goal for you on this articulated in the whole Bible and God's goal for you is your spiritual maturity is your spiritual maturity. You see, God does not rise up spoiled brats doing spiritually to children. Think about it we can. The rain and rule with him in the universe we gonna rain over planets and that is why he matures us so we can be ready. The story of Job is well known. I'm not going to rehash it first Job was a blessed man, Satan goes after him and then he loses everything and goes through so much pain that you and I will never know will never know.

And because of his perseverance because of his faithfulness. God honors that and he doubles everything that he had in the past.

He doubles everything. But before that everything was working against Job, Satan was working instant. They are not his circumstances were against him. His friends definitely were against him. His life was against him and she said curse God and die and even he was stepping up times to think of God was against their but in reality what God was doing that he was weaving he was weaving a beautiful tapestry in his life. For God's glory and Job's blessing. He was weaving he was overturning what Satan meant for evil and God turning it for the good God was working together. Even Job couldn't say it but he was working things together for Job good for the good I want to tell you this, as I conclude and I hope you listen carefully please whatever pain you're going through right now only, you know.

And God knows whatever it is, whatever suffering you might be experiencing right now God is working behind the scenes and is moving the scenes that his behind. When taking turns up the heat run into their condition strong room of God.

When Satan increases the attack goal and have a times of refreshment with the Lord when plowing and planting becomes difficult becomes a struggle. Look forward to the glorious day of the harvest when you don't see fruit instantly of your labor. Remember that God is germinating the seat germinating the city and that is why James in verse 12 goes on to say, don't be tempted to be untruthful because people always lie when they're on the fire they lie when they're afraid. Don't be tempted to lie know how people sometimes when lying day always and elsewhere by God not tell you this, and I really will want to talk too much and you know the guys not telling the truth is that, let your yes be yes and you know me know, and that sufficient, as long as God knows that's all that matters because when you place your whole trust not just a little bit of your whole trust and trust in God, you will endure with patience and perseverance, and enjoy.

We hope that you've been encouraged to persevere in what ever trials you're going through in life.

This is leading the way with Dr. Michael you Seth learn more about Dr. Yousef and the expanding worldwide ministry of leading the way. When you visit us@ltw.org and as we finish up today.

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That's okay you can give any time your situation prevent you from getting no worries. I team and ask that you pray for Dr. you Seth that you pray for leading the way. As mentioned, opportunities for growth have to be evaluated with wisdom so please ask God to grant us godly wisdom gratis the ears to hear him speak. We appreciate your prayers so much if you like to reach out to us for any reason number to call is this 866-626-4356. That's 866-626-4356 or LTW.org LTW.org and we love getting your letters so write to us leading away PO Box 20100 Atlanta, GA 30325. Again, that's PO Box 20100 Atlanta, GA 30325 James is saying it's okay Brian petition God in the time of suffering. Don't you stop asking God in times of trouble don't you stop asking God to bring your needs. To him, keep on doing it, but please praise him with the same intensity and with the same desire with the same diligence and with the same persistence when he answers you I do it that you can join us right here next time when Dr. Michael you Seth wraps up his practical series in James right here on leading the way this program is furnished by leading the way with Dr. Michael you Seth connect with us through our YouTube channel Facebook twitter all of our social media more LTW.org