THE JUDGE AT THE DOOR
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 18, 2024 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: September 18, 2024 from James 5:9
Theme: We should put away all grumbling against each other, because our Judge is listening.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
When we’re driving along in our car, and we check the rearview mirror and see that a police car is right behind us … what do we instinctively do?
Well; let’s be honest about it. The first thing we usually do is check to see if we’re driving within the speed limit. And then, we make sure that we have two hands on the wheel instead of one. If we were about to change lanes, we might be inclined to wait a while; but if we do change lanes, we’re very careful to use the turning signal. All of a sudden, we become very well-behaved drivers. And that’s because a police officer is near—even right behind us. That’s a natural response. And what’s more, it’s probably a good one … showing that the presence of a police officer has a positive impact on our behavior.
But, in a much more serious way, living with an ongoing awareness of the Lord’s watchful presence—and even knowing that He may return to this earth at any time—has the effect of making us careful about how we live our lives before Him. He Himself once said;
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:45-51).
A sincere awareness of the presence of our Lord through His Holy Spirit—and an awareness that He may bodily return in glory to this earth at any time—should cause us to be careful how we live as His people in this world. It’s not because we’re afraid of Him; but rather, it’s because we love Him and want to be found pleasing to Him. But there’s also the fact that we don’t want to be found guilty before Him or to suffer the consequences of His displeasure. He is, after all, the ‘righteous’ Judge.
Careful living in the light of the Lord’s nearness is something that Pastor James spoke of in his letter. He certainly mentioned it in respect to the behavior of evil people who take advantage of others. As he put it in James 5:1-6;
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you (James 5:1-6).
He wrote these words because—at the time—those believers to whom he wrote were suffering severe persecution at the hands of evil oppressors. And he wanted to urge them to be patient in the light of the Lord’s nearness and promised return. In verses 7-8, he said;
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (vv. 7-8).
But Pastor James wasn’t just concerned about their passive patience. He also wanted them to be careful to actively live in a careful and righteous manner in the light of the Lord’s nearness and promised return. And so, in verse 9, he told them;
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! (v. 9).
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In writing this letter, Pastor James was very concerned about the ‘church family conduct’ of his believing brothers and sisters toward each other. He had quite a bit to say about how they needed to be careful in the ways that they treated one another. For example in 2:1-4, he wrote;
My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (2:1-4).
Or in 3:13-14, he wrote;
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth (3:13-14).
In 4:1, he wrote;
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? (4:1).
And in verses 11-12, he wrote;
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (4:11-12).
This verse—5:9—is yet another such exhortation to us as believers concerning how we treat each other. And given the context of this section of his letter, this particular exhortation may have special significance. He was, after all, writing to believers who were suffering severe persecution; and he may have even been thinking of specific individual believers who were under intense oppression. Under such circumstances, it would be very tempting—given human nature—for even sincere and godly believers to momentarily forget the glorious prospect of the Lord’s coming; and to give way to such feelings as jealousy, envy, bitterness, and resentment. We’re commanded to love each other even when we’re not necessarily lovable; but when we’re under particular strain, we may forget to love … and to focus too much on the unlovable aspects.
And so; this verse is giving us a very important and necessary instruction. It’s calling us to be careful how we treat each other—even in subtle ways. It teaches us that we should put away all grumbling against each other, because our Judge is listening.
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Now; in this verse, we’re given three things: (1) the warning—that is, to stop grumbling against one another; (2) the reason for the warning—that we will not be convicted of sin; and (3) the motivation—that the Lord is near and is listening. So; let’s begin by considering …
1. THE WARNING.
James wrote, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren …” Note first that, in issuing this command, James called his readers ‘brethren’. He emphasized the ‘family context’ of this instruction. Our ‘family connection’ is an important theme that runs through this whole section of ‘patience under oppression’ in verses 1-12. The word ‘brethren’ occurs four times; emphasizing that we are truly family members of one another—children of the same heavenly Father through grace—siblings together with the same divine Brother in the Person of the Lord Jesus. Because we’re family in the deepest and most eternal sense, we ought to stand up for one another, protect one another, get along well with one another, and be very careful to speak in a civil and loving manner toward and about one another.
And with that in mind, note that James urges us not to “grumble” against one another. The word that James uses is stenazō, and its meaning is ‘to groan’ or ‘to sigh’. It’s the word that Paul used when he spoke of how “even we ourselves groan within ourselves” as we eagerly await our glorification (Romans 8:23); and of how we “groan earnestly; desiring to be clothed with our habitation with is from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2), and that “we who are in this tent groan” (v. 4). Those can be seen as positive expressions of the meaning of this word; because they look ahead longingly to something glorious that we don’t yet experience. But the word can also have a negative connotation, as in Hebrews 13:17;
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you (Hebrews 13:17).
The word “grief” in that verse is stenazō; the same word as we find in James’ command, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren …” We may not “groan” in an outwardly audible way; but we can grumble against one another under our breaths, or express bitterness with a rolling of the eyes, or by flashing a smile that’s immediately followed by a surreptitious sneer.
And it’s important to notice the unique sense in which James used this word. He issued this command in what’s called ‘a prohibition in the present imperative’. And that means that he assumed that ‘grumbling’ was happening even as he wrote. He wasn’t saying, “Now; don’t you start grumbling and complaining against one another!” Nor was he saying, “Now; you’ve had occasions when you grumbled and complained against one another in the past … but don’t do it again!” Instead, he was saying, “You are currently in the habit and practice of grumbling and complaining against one another; so stop doing so! Put an end to this practice! No longer complain and grumble against one another … as is your ongoing habit!”
James knows us well; doesn’t he? Or better to say the Holy Spirit, who inspired these words from James, knows us well. It’s a habit and practice that is most likely currently going on in the church family—and even in our own hearts; and that needs to stop. And notice how James then—under the leading of the Holy Spirit—gave us …
2. THE REASON.
He wrote, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.” The words “ lest you be condemned” show us how serious a matter this ‘grumbling against one another’ was among the believers in James’ church family. It may be true that times were hard for them; and that the pressure was intense. Nevertheless, brothers and sisters in Christ are to treat one another carefully—with genuine family love. To complain against one another—even in non-verbal ways—would be terribly inconsistent with that love; and would provoke the Lord’s anger as He watches over His people during such times of trial.
Think of the commandment that the Lord gave to His apostles just before He went to the cross for them. It’s a commandment He meant for us also to obey. He told them;
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
When we grumble against one another, we behave in a way that is the opposite of the way He has loved us:
- In complaining against our brother or sister, we would be communicating a rejection of them to some degree; and we would thus be forgetting that Jesus has accepted them fully by grace—faults and all.
- We would also subtly be elevating ourselves above them as ‘better’ than them; and we would thus be forgetting the Lord Jesus’ condescending love and immeasurable patience toward us with all of our own faults and failings.
- And we would be daring to call the providence of God into question by thinking that we’re ‘stuck’ with this other believer; and thus forget how the Lord Jesus has forgiven us and has willingly united Himself to us in an eternal and inseparable bond of love.
Truly; everything about ‘grumbling’ against a brother or sister is inconsistent with the Lord’s ‘new commandment’ to us. It shortcircuits His plan to show the world that we truly are His disciples. This helps us to better appreciate the reason that stands behind the very serious warning of this verse. We are not to ‘grumble’ against our brother or sister in Christ so that we will not be “condemned” or “judged”. As Jesus Himself said;
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7:1-2).
And finally, notice …
3. THE MOTIVATION.
James wrote, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” James used the word “Behold” in order to catch the attention of his readers. It was as if he was nodding his head in the direction of the doorway and saying, “Hey … Psssssst—! Be careful! Look over there! It’s the Judge! Do you notice?”
And consider how he referred to the Lord as the Judge—not merely a judge, nor even a better judge than you or me; nor even the best and most qualified judge among many. James’ words exclude any other judge than Jesus. He is the Judge—meaning the only one who may act the part of the judge of our brother or sister in Christ—and of us as well.
And notice that he says that this one and only Judge is ‘standing at the door’. In the original language, James literally uses the plural; saying that the Judge is ‘standing at the doors’. It’s as if he was saying, “He’s standing there, waiting right at the very gates’. It’s like what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 24:32-33;
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!” (Matthew 24:32-33).
The language James was using conveys the same kind of idea that we find in Philippians 4:5; “Let your gentleness [that is, your graciousness or forbearance] be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” Our secret, quiet grumblings and murmurings may escape the notice of other people. In fact, we may become very skilled in making sure that they do escape the notice of others. But they nevertheless rise up to the holy and all-hearing ears of King Jesus—He who is the only righteous Judge of all—the divine Lover of the soul of every fellow believer against whom we dare to grumble. It’s a very sobering thing to realize that our well-concealed thoughts and under-the-breath murmurs about each other are not—in any way—hidden from Him.
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Grumbling against each other is a strong temptation in times of suffering. But there would hardly be a more important time for us as believers to treat one another with genuine love than during a time of persecution and trial. So; may God help us to put away all such grumbling.
The judge truly is—in every respect—at the door. And He truly loves each of His people.
AE
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