The Farmer Has Good Expectation
James 5: 19-20
We have a good hope because the true Righteous Man is Christ Jesus our Advocate with the Father. The prayer of those who are justified by his righteousness is effectual because the intercession of Christ is effectual. James has been writing about these passions that get the best of us. Elias had those passions. But he prayed as he waited. And God gave rain, bringing forth fruit (James 5:17, 18; Hebrews 7:25.) So the Lord says be patient. Verses 19 and 20 describe the precious fruit for which we wait. Believers are helpers of one another's joy amidst our many errors. We do not expose sin but pray our brethren might be refreshed by Christ in whom their sin is covered. This is the subject of the epistle; this is what it is to continue in the perfect law of liberty, to be a doer of the work. These are the works without which faith is a vain thing. Establish your hearts. Growing up I used to grow tired of working in the garden. My grandfather would call us to the supper table to enjoy the good taste of peas from the year before. It established our hearts, making it worthwhile to wait for this year's crop. Even so, as we wait on God to establish our afflicted brethren, God establishes our heart with the very Seed which we sow to them. And here is our patience and our heart's establishing, the Lord draweth nigh!—not only to lift up in this trial, but to bring in the harvest for good. Oh, expect a bumper crop! (Galatians 6:8; Psalm 126:6; Revelation 22:20)
Come back tomorrow for the next article in this series.