James - Sermon (1-1-12)

James 5:10 - "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord."

Jesus warns us in the book of Matthew that living for Him results in insult and persecution, and in James chapter 5 James is talking about enduring hardship and waiting for the return of Christ. He tells us to look at the prophets as an example of suffering and patience, and that's what I want to do. Without a lot of commentary, I just want to recount several of the historical accounts of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord and suffered for it.

The first account we're going to look at is in 2 Chronicles 16, and it's the account of a man by the name of Hanani. At this time in Judahs history Asa was the king. At the beginning of this chapter the king of Israel came up against Judah in battle, and rather than seeking the Lord, Asa sent a tribute to the king of Aram and asked him to come up and help him battle against the king of Jerusalem, and he did. Ben Hadad, king of Aram allied himself with Asa king of Judah and together they defeated Baasha king of Israel. Right after their victory the Lord sent Hanani the prophet to Asa king of Judah, and this is what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16:7-10 - "At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time."
Hanani faithfully spoke the word that God commanded him to speak and as a result he was thrown in prison. We're not told anymore about Hanani after this point. He may have died in prison, we don't know. All we know is that God sent him to speak His word to Asa, Hanani obeyed the Lord, and ended up in prison.

The next account is in 2 Chronicles 18 when Jehoshaphat, Asa's son, was king in Judah. Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahab, king of Israel, and together they were going to go up in battle against Ramoth Gilead. But before they did Jehoshaphat wanted to know if this was according to Gods will. We begin reading in 2 Chronicles 18:4 - "Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the Lord.” Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil. He is Micaiah, son of Imla.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”  Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah, Imla’s son.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are consumed.’” All the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”  Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. So please let your word be like one of them and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.” When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” He said, “Go up and succeed, for they will be given into your hand.” Then the king said to him, “How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” So he said,“I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, Like sheep which have no shepherd; And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.’”Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left. The Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that.  Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and prevail also. Go and do so.’ Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, for the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.” Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide yourself.” Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.”’” Micaiah said, “If you indeed return safely, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Listen, all you people.”
This is another account of someone who was imprisoned for speaking what God commanded him, and he too was throne in prison. Even though all the other "prophets" were prophesying falsely, Micaiah had to speak the truth, and the truth is very often unpopular. Many people today are being persecuted for teaching the truth. Ahab commanded that Micaiah be put in prison until he returned from battle, but he never returned from the battle. Ahab died on the battlefield, so we can only assume that Micaiah spent the rest of his life in prison.

In 2 Chronicles 24 we're given the account of Zechariah. 2 Chronicles 24:15-22 - "Now when Jehoiada reached a ripe old age he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old at his death.  They buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done well in Israel and to God and His house. But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. They abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. Yet He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord; though they testified against them, they would not listen. Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus God has said, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has also forsaken you.’” So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as he died he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”
This prophet was killed for doing what God had sent him to do.

In Daniel 6 the officials who served under Darius hated Daniel. They conspired together to have the king sign a document that no one could pray to any god, except him, merely because they hated Daniel. Daniel 6:10-17 - "Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. Then they approached and spoke before the king about the king’s injunction, “Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be cast into the lions’ den?” The king replied, “The statement is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.” Then they answered and spoke before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making his petition three times a day.” Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel; and even until sunset he kept exerting himself to rescue him. Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Recognize, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”  Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.” A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel."
Now, of course, we all know of the miraculous delivery that God worked on behalf of His servant Daniel, but Daniel suffered persecution at the hands of these men and they hated him simply because he is a servant of the true and living God.

We're given a good summery about the prophets in 2 Chronicles 36:14-16 - "Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.  The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy." And in Nehemiah 9:26 when Nehemiah is praying and recounting Israels history he says this - "But they became disobedient and rebelled against Thee, And cast Thy law behind their backs and killed Thy prophets who had admonished them So that they might return to Thee, And they committed great blasphemies."

As far as suffering for the Lord goes, I think Jeremiah is an excellent example. All throughout his ministry he had problem after problem, the people never listened to him, and instead they would persecute him for the word which the Lord had given to him. The book of Jeremiah begins with God calling Jeremiah to be His prophet, and this is what He says to him in chapter 1 verses 18-19 - "Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord." God told Jeremiah that the people were going to fight against him, it wasn't a surprise to him. God has told us the same thing. Many Christians have fallen into the false thinking that the Christian life is supposed to be easy, and if we come to God He's going to give us health, wealth and prosperity, but that is not scriptural at all. This is what Jesus said - "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." That's not what many are preaching today because it isn't popular, but God tells us straight up "you will have tribulation."
So anyway, God told Jeremiah the same thing. In Jeremiah 19:14- 20:2 it says - "Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord’S house and said to all the people: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’” When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord."
Jeremiah 26:7-15 - "The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’S house. Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing.” Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”
Jeremiah 26:20-23 - "Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt. And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the burial place of the common people."
Jeremiah 37:11-16 - "Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had lifted the siege from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to take possession of some property there among the people. While he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are going over to the Chaldeans!” But Jeremiah said, “A lie! I am not going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. Then the officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him, and they put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which they had made into the prison. For Jeremiah had come into the dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days."
Jeremiah 38:1-6 - "Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.” Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud."

Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets suffered some terrible things simply because they spoke in the name of the Lord. We've seen the prophets being ignored, scoffed at, beaten, cast in the mud, put in stocks, imprisoned and killed for doing the Lords work. Just because you're in the center of the Lords will for your life doesn't mean that your life is going to be easy. Jesus says in Matthew 5:11-12 - "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." and James 5:10 says - "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord." The prophets were persecuted for the word of the Lord, and we should expect the same for us. Even in the midst of persecution the prophets endured. How? I think Jeremiah sums it up well in Jeremiah 20:7-13. Right after Jeremiah was beaten and put in stock for speaking Gods message this is what He says - "O Lord, Thou hast deceived me and I was deceived; Thou hast overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the Lord has resulted In reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it. For I have heard the whispering of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!” All my trusted friends, Watching for my fall, say: “Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him And take our revenge on him.” But the Lord is with me like a dread champion; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten. Yet, O Lord of hosts, Thou who dost test the righteous, Who seest the mind and the heart; Let me see Thy vengeance on them; For to Thee I have set forth my cause. Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers."

Jeremiah said that the word of the Lord was as fire in his bones. It hurt him more to disobey the Lord than the physical persecution that came as a result of his obedience. Is it the same way in our lives? I began by quoting James 5:10 which tells us that the prophets are an example to us of suffering and patience. Two verses before that we read this - "You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."