Three Questions

James is warning that the promised return of Christ could be at any time; therefore—
a. The elite and self-sufficient (“rich”) in the power structure of Jerusalem were to prepare for the “miseries” that were coming upon them shortly (vv. 1-5).
b. The “brothers”—the believers in the churches—were to prepare for this calamity by estab-lishing their hearts in patient endurance, not grumbling about their difficult circumstances but trusting the Lord in steadfast hope (vv. 7-12).
c. Most important, these “brothers” were not to agitate each other or to be drawn into the plotting of the Jews by vowing and swearing allegiance to those causes that lay outside the will of God for them (v. 12).