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Adult Bible Study Guide

Oct Nov Dec 2014

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Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide


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The Book of James


Contents
1 James, the Lords Brother
2 The Perfection of Our Faith
3 Enduring Temptation
4 Being and Doing
5 Love and the Law
6 Faith That Works
7 Taming the Tongue
8 The Humanity of Heavenly Wisdom
9 One Lawgiver and Judge
10 Weep and Howl!
11 Getting Ready for the Harvest
12 Prayer, Healing and Restoration
13 The Everlasting Gospel

The Book of James


Our Goal

Our journey this quarter spans the


entire Christian era, as it includes
some of the earliest preaching, as
well as special insights for these
last days.
Let us not miss these insights.

The Book of James


Lesson 11, Dec 13

Getting Ready for the

Harvest

Getting Ready for the Harvest


Key Text

James 5:8 NKJV

You also be patient. Establish


your hearts, for the coming of the
Lord is at hand.

Getting Ready for the Harvest


Initial Words

The Greek word parousia, which is


used throughout the New Testament
for Christs coming, as well as in
James 5:7, 8, is a technical expression
for the arrival of a king or dignitary.
How do we prepare when we do not
know of that day or hour?
What does it mean to be patient
and to establish our hearts?

Getting Ready for the Harvest


Quick Look

1. Patience in Waiting
(James 5:7-9)
2. Models of Patience
(James 5:10, 11)
3. Patience in Speaking
(James 5:12)

Getting Ready for the Harvest


1. Patience in Waiting

James 5:7-9 NKJV

Be patient brethren, until the


coming of the Lord. ... You also also
be patient. Establish your heart, for
the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Do not grumble against one
another...lest you be condemned.
Behold, the judge is standing at
the door.

1. Patience in Waiting
Waiting for Rain

Under the figure of the early and the


latter rain, that falls...at seedtime
and harvest, the Hebrew prophets
foretold the bestowal of spiritual
grace in extraordinary measure upon
Gods church. The outpouring of the
Spirit in the days of the apostles was
the beginning of the early, or former
rain, and glorious was the result....

1. Patience in Waiting
Waiting for Rain

But near the close of earths harvest,


a special bestowal of spiritual grace
is promised to prepare the church
for the coming of the Son of man.
This outpouring of the Spirit is
likened to the...latter rain; and it is
for this added power that Christians
are to send their petitions to the
Lord of the harvest....EGW, Our Father Cares 212.

1. Patience in Waiting
How Near is Near?

James 5:8 affirms that Christs


coming is at hand or near.
But, after nearly two thousand years,
how are we to understand this
promise? Jesus described the
coming kingdom (Matt. 4:17, 10:7,
24:33) by means of parables to teach
the unfamiliar heavenly things in
terms that are understandable.

1. Patience in Waiting
How Near is Near?

A close study of these parables


reveals that the kingdom has two
aspects: a present, spiritual reality
and a glorious reality still to come.
All the apostles fixed their hope in
the imminent coming of Jesus (Rom.
13:11, Heb. 10:25, James 5:9), but
they never identify exactly when
that would be.

1. Patience in Waiting
How Near is Near?

The word establish (sterizo) means


to fix firmly or strengthen.
Our hearts are to be so wedded to
the Lord that they cannot be moved.
Becoming settled in the truth
(2 Pet. 1:12), withstanding
temptation, and enduring trials and
suffering for our faith (Acts 14:22)
all contribute to this work.

1. Patience in Waiting
Grumbling, Groaning, and Growing

As the coming of the Lord


approaches, we have far more to
fear from within than from without....
The unbelief indulged, the doubts
expressed, the darkness cherished,
encourage the presence of evil angels,
and open the way for the
accomplishment of Satans devices.
EGW, Last Day Events 156.

Getting Ready for the Harvest


2. Models of Patience

James 5:10, 11 NKJV

My brethren, take the prophets, who


spoke the name of the Lord, as an
example of suffering and patience.
Instead, we count them blessed who
endure. You have heard of the
perseverance of Job and seen the end
intended by the Lordthat the Lord is
very compassionate and merciful.

2. Models of Patience
The Prophets

The prophets of Israel were faithful


in preaching the Word of the Lord
without altering or compromising it.
Hebrews, in extolling the prophets
fidelity to God, paints a clear
picture: they stopped the mouths
of lions [Daniel], quenched the
violence of fire [Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego],

2. Models of Patience
The Prophets

escaped the edge of the sword


[Elijah and Elisha], ... had ...
imprisonment [Jeremiah and
Micaiah], ... stoned [Zechariah, son
of Jehoiada], ... sawn asunder
[Isaiah], ... [and] slain with the
sword [see 1 Kings 19:10] (Heb.
11:3337).

2. Models of Patience
Job

Jobs sufferings are also proverbial,


as is the patience he exemplified
despite derision by his own wife and
the censure of those who came to
commiserate with him.
Patience (makrothymias), or
longsuffering or forbearance
refers to the capacity to weather
whatever life (or the devil!) throws at

Getting Ready for the Harvest


3. Patience in Speaking

James 5:12 NKJV

But above all, my brethren, do not


swear, either by heaven or by earth
or with any other oath.
But let your Yes be Yes, and your
No, No,
lest you fall into judgment.

3. Patience in Speaking
Transparent as the Sunlight

Our words reveal what is in our


hearts: Out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaks (Matt.
12:34, NKJV). The theology of James
is permeated with the thinking of
Jesus, who commanded us:
Swear not at all; neither by
heaven;...nor by the earth;...neither
by Jerusalem.... (Matt. 5:34, 35).

3. Patience in Speaking
Transparent as the Sunlight

Jesus said all of this was evil:


Let your Yes be Yes, and your
No, No (Matt. 5:37, NKJV).
Everything that Christians do should
be as transparent as the sunlight.
Truth is of God; deception, in every
one of its myriad forms, is of
Satan.Thoughts From the Mount of
Blessing 68.

3. Patience in Speaking
Transparent as the Sunlight

Keep these in mind when speaking


the truth: first and foremost being
that we seldom even know all the
truth, even about ourselves, and so
we must be humble.
Second, when we do speak the
truth, it should always be spoken in
love and for the edification of those
who hear.

Getting Ready for the Harvest


Final Words

To wait patiently, to trust when


everything looks dark, is the lesson
that the leaders in Gods work need
to learn. Heaven will not fail them in
their day of adversity. Nothing is
apparently more helpless, yet really
more invincible, than the soul that
feels its nothingness and relies
wholly on God....Prophets and Kings 174.

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