Chapter 5 is our final study in the letter of James.

James 5:1-6

Click the verses to read

What a victory it is when we’re tempted and we do not respond in the flesh. Do you feel miserable when you give into the flesh? When we respond according to the spirit it feels so good. It is important that our faith is tested because we so easily will deceive ourselves. Storing up riches here on earth will not save us in the end and we won’t be taking any of it with us wherever we go from our existence here. The material possessions we obtain here are of only artificial value. It can all be gone in an instant. The only possession we have on earth that can go to heaven with us is our children. So we should make every effort to raise them according to God’s word, to take them to church and do our best to expose them to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have the responsibility to teach them to follow Jesus by educating them and by our own example. If we don’t teach them to follow Jesus this world will teach them not to. Revelation 6:6 talks about a time it will take an entire days wages to buy a loaf of bread. That used to seem so unlikely but with today’s food costs it seems very likely. This is talking about the oppression of the poor, the laborer. The rich may be enjoying their time on earth but the end is near. 

James 5:7-20

Here in the closing chapter of James by this writer’s count ( you could maybe dig and find more) there are 7 exhortations where James before he ended this writing, he had some final exhortations, some instructions, some directives for us as Christians. Let us go through those together below. 

1. Wait Patiently James 5:7-8. To stay in context here James isn’t saying to be patient for the sake of patience. He’s specific by saying to be patient till the Lord comes back. The word patient in some form appears three times. When God repeats something we should take special note of what it says. Patience is not only a virtue as we’ve been told all of our lives. It is that but it’s also a discipline. It is a virtue when we know the Lord and we have His spirit within us. One of the fruit of the spirit is patience or some translations call it long suffering Galatians 5:22-23. Patience is a virtue in our walk with the Lord. Patience should naturally identify us as belonging to God because it is one of the fruit of the spirit. It is also a discipline. We have to practice patience. We have to discipline our lives to be patient. For most of us we find that the more fast paced our culture gets the more impatient we get. We are often inpatient at the weirdest times. Have you ever got Impatient at a microwave lol. Everything is at our disposal now. Instant this, instant that. Prepared dinners you just zap and eat. The Bible commands us in Colossians 3:12 to clothe ourselves in patience among other things. If we don’t find ourselves to be naturally a patient person then it is a discipline. We are to pray for it, practice it and put on patience. We are closer to the day Jesus will return then in James’s day yet he said it was at hand. Which means we should always be living in the careful expectation of the imminent return of Christ. That challenges us to holy living. If we live with the constant expectation of Jesus returning any minute then we won’t be doing some of the things we normally have done. It will help us to live a better life. We don’t want to be found unfaithful and would hope to be honoring Him and waiting patiently on Him when He returns. He sees us always but by waiting patiently in expectation it helps us to live more faithful. In that context he’s also talking about suffering. It’s hard for us living in place where we freely worship to understand that there are Christians around the world suffering for their faith. They are in constant threat of death, persecution and are suffering for their faith. More Christians have been martyred for their faith in the last century than in the previous 20 combined. We live so far removed from that fact so we lose sight of it. In James 5:10 he links suffering with patience. We will discuss that topic more below but it’s important for you to realize that here James is saying yes be patient waiting for the Lord but he’s also saying to be patient in this lifetime because this world will be tasking at times, burdensome at times and you will experience suffering at times. So be patient because Jesus is coming again. That’s why he ends James 5:8 with establish or strengthen your hearts. The Greek word used means to make strong, to set in place. Like allowing concrete to set. In other words don’t let your heart be tossed by this world. Establish your heart, firmly set it in the Lord. The Lord is coming. He compares patience to a farmer who doesn’t get his produce immediately. He has to be patient, it takes time and he must prepare the fields, plant the crop, take care of it, nurture it and wait patiently for it to germinate and grow. Then it becomes fruitful. It all takes time. He’s telling us to take a lesson from the farmer, be patient in the face of suffering, Jesus is coming again. 
2. Avoid Grumbling James 5:9. KJV says do not grudge, CSB says complain. It’s a take on the word “stenazo” which is defined as “to groan," "to complain" (from affliction or from impatience or ill-humor), “to murmur.”  (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). He’s referring to one another, fellow Christians. When looking at how often the term “grumbling was used in the Bible it was predominantly when the Israelites grumbled against God. Remember in the wilderness when God was moving them from Egypt and rescuing them from slavery and they became impatient, began grumbling, murmuring, complaining. They were not satisfied with the food, not enough water, it was hot, just grumbling about everything. They weren’t grateful. The opposite of grumbling and complaining is gratefulness. We can’t complain, grumble, murmur about being miserable and be grateful at the same time. So as an example to us when the Israelites began to grumble what happened? God basically said to them that they didn’t have to listen to Him and trust Him. Fine, you don’t like your circumstances here then you can go your own way. They chose their way and they wondered in the wilderness till they all died. Only two people out of an estimated three million or more who left slavery in Egypt entered the promise land. Joseph and Caleb. This was all of their own doing. Psalms 103:5. The Bible makes it clear that God doesn’t like complaining. Israelites were grumbling about God well here we see He doesn’t like it when we grumble about each other too. When we complain we are dishonoring God. It’s that simple. 
3. Endure Suffering James 5:10-11. Here James is again linking patience and suffering. He uses two examples. the prophets and then specifically uses Job. The prophets had their share of suffering because of their stand for God and most were killed and certainlyo all were persecuted. Jeremiah was beaten often, thrown into a pit. He was known as the weeping prophet for his tears over the sins of his people and they mistreated him for it. Church history (not the Bible):says that Isaiah was sawed into. They still persevered, we’re faithful to God. Whatever degree of suffering we may face, endure it. Seek God’s help to get through it. Keep the faith. God is full of pity for us. When He looks at us He doesn’t expect to see Superman. He knows we are dust. He’s merciful. Psalms 103:14. James mentions Job. This man suffered so much. It’s not an uplifting book for sure, well at the end but it’s full of tragedy and heartache. When we read it anyone with a heart would feel so sad and sorry for the man. In Job 1:1 it makes clear that Job was a pretty righteous person. We now through the Bible know something Job didn’t know, satan approached God and asked permission to test Job, torment him and tempt him. God gave Satan liberty to. The evil one doesn’t have free rein over our lives, he can only do what God allows. The reason God allowed this is that it serves to be for us an encouragement and a reminder of a man who was faithful in the face of suffering. A tale of torment. We see why satan left Job’s wife alone, she was helping him torment Job too. After Job lost everything including his riches, children and his health, she wasn’t supportive, an encourager, comforter, uplifting him, no she told him to curse God and die Job 2:9. His friends even turned on him. Jobs is a clear example of suffering. The Bible says that through it all Job never sinned against God or blamed God. Job 1:22. James is telling us to remember Job. Take his example to heart and endure whatever we must and keep the faith. Lean into the Lord when times get tough. Our perspective is so small so we don’t know the full picture of why it is happening and what the overall outcome will be. Leave it to God. We will face tribulations John 16:33. The verse Romans 8:18 shows us the right perspective we are to maintain as we face trials and hardships. We should try when times get difficult to not ask ‘Why Lord?’ but to ask, ‘Lord what are you teaching me, what am I supposed to learn from this?’ And ask him ‘Lord help this to make me grow as a Christian.’ The greatest things we can learn, the best lessons learned from were all during difficulties. Be thankful for the good times but also be thankful for all the good that has came from the bad times. God is still on the throne and we should want Him to reveal Himself to us during the difficult times. Let us pray “God help me to lean into You and to understand You better.”
4. Speak Honestly James 5:12. First to note here that James is not referring to that God is warning us to not lay our hand on a Bible and swear an oath in court. He’s saying be a person of your word, say what you mean and mean what you say. If someone doesn’t believe us then so be it, don’t swear on God to make someone believe you. Don’t play verbal gymnastics with people. Of course don’t be brutally blunt, harsh. Be tactful and frame our words where they’re not hurtful. We need to be truth talkers. James got this from Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus said this but he also added that “anything else comes from the evil one”.Jesus is saying that anything other than being honest, truthful and sincere is actually motivated by Satan himself. Jesus told us satan is the father of lies so when we lie, deceive, manipulate, say things to get our way or to take advantage of others. All this is not sincere talk and is from the enemy. Writing or in these days saying with your fingers by typing online you’re equally accountable. It’s still communication and still applies and maybe more severely, here’s why. When you say it with your mouth you may only be saying it to one or two people, they may forget and over time no one remembers. However you say something on social media, post something online the whole world can see it and it never goes away. Well until Jesus comes and destroys everything. What you say, yes to the young too, it could cost you a job down the road. It can come back on you in so many negative ways. Posting foolish stuff can be googled later and be seen by a boss, even your children some day. Think about politicians today who have their careers destroyed because of something they said 25 years prior. Words do matter and we are accountable for what we say. Held accountable by people and most importantly we are held accountable by God. Matthew 12:37.
5. Pray Earnestly James 5:13-15, James 5:17-18. In verse 13 James makes it understood that he’s talking about prayer for suffering and sickness. Not saying that’s the only reason to pray but James is calling out those two things for the point he is making here. This shows the importance of prayer when we are going through hardships and illness.  He instructs us to call upon the elders in the church to anoint us with oil and pray for us. It is important we understand that this is like a prescription from God for when we are sick or going through illness or suffering in a physical way. Typically olive oil is used and that’s probably in context here but there’s nothing magical about the oil. You could pull out the dipstick from a car to get oil if someone needed prayer and that’s all you had access to. The oil is symbolic of The Holy Spirit. You see in the Old Testament where Kings would have oil poured over their head to anoint them, the oil was symbolic. Healing has become a topic of both abuse and great neglect. In the sense that one group of people will say if you have enough faith everyone gets healed, you have another group that thinks no one gets healed today and that is something that ended in Biblical times. These are both extreme examples and no one should live in the extreme. God still heals but perhaps sometimes not in the way we expect to be. Looking at the scriptures we see that typically there are three ways a person will be healed, medically, miraculously or eternally. Sometimes a person is taken home and that is their healing. We always want to prolong people’s living here. We don’t understand why God chooses who to heal here and who He takes home. That’s part of God’s perspective that we don’t have. Be thankful for the medical field that God has blessed with the talent and He uses them to heal. We decide to put ourselves in God’s hands for Him to decide and we pray for peace and comfort with whatever He decides. We should never stop praying because God may do the miraculous. We should be people of faith not faith in the result, that is the danger but faith in God who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above what we could ever hope or imagine. 
6. Confess Privately James 5:16. On this point James has talked about physical healing, now he’s referring to spiritual healing. Spiritual healing comes when we confess our sins and make our hearts right with God. This is not saying to confess to one another instead of to God. Because God is who we must confess our sins to. He’s saying here that there is a powerful healing aspect of our heart that happens when we find a friend, spouse, a confidant with whom we can privately, confidentially confess. When we keep secrets in secret they have more power. When we have courage to find someone we can confess a sin to it can be liberating. The sad reality here is that sometimes the confidant we found cannot be trusted to be the friend we thought they were. Proverbs 11:13 warns against breaking the confidence of someone that entrusted you with information. We should pray for a trustworthy person in our life that we can be confidants with. 
7. Restore Gently James 5:19-20. Paul wrote something similar in Galatians 6:1. We must be humble when talking to someone with a goal of restoration, bringing them back to the Lord. Speak to them gently, so we aren’t at risk of falling too. Approach restoration with gentleness, meekness and humility. Jude 1:23. That’s our job even though we’re no better than anyone else. If we look out for each other, love one another and when a brother or sister falls if we can play a role in restoring them, that is a good thing. Be careful to never harm the wounded. Be merciful, gentle and compassionate. 

This ends our study of James. God thank you for blessing us with this opportunity to study your word. Help all who read it to learn from it and grow closer to you Lord. Use this Lord for your good, your honor and glory. Asking this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.