How about -
Jas 5:8 _You_ also wait patiently. Establish [or, strengthen] your* hearts, because the Arrival of the Lord has drawn near.
James told them to get their hearts ready, or prepare, because, "this was it!" The more I read this, the more it looks like the Apostles were pleading with the early church to be on their best behavior because Christ was in fact coming soon. Every statement was, don't judge, stop complaining, love each other, pray a lot. These guys were worried. Look at these statements -
1Co 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Co 4:5 Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come,
1Co 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
Paul believed the time was so short he told husbands to act as if they didn't even have wives!
Php 3:20 For our citizenship exists in [the] heavens, from where also we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
These people were "eagerly" waiting for, or "fully expecting" him to show up!
2Th 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
John didn't expect these people to die and go to heaven, he thought Jesus was coming in their life time and he told them to be ready so they wouldn't be ashamed when he showed up. If you die, you would go to meet him, not the other way around. LOL. :D
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.
James didn't tell those people that Jesus would be coming many centuries later. These were Apostles. None like them have ever been here since. They had God's ear more than anyone. God would not have led them on to think that, he was coming quickly, only to have it draw out 2000 years. These people were definitely worried about the condition of their flocks at the appearance of Jesus. For them, this was it. :) There was no millenium wait for them. It was their time. And we live in ours. :)
1Co 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
Paul believed the time was so short he told husbands to act as if they didn't even have wives!
The time is short for everyone living as no one knows the moment they die. Paul was instructing those going to teach and thought that it was be easier to be as he was...single.
Php 3:20 For our citizenship exists in [the] heavens, from where also we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
These people were "eagerly" waiting for, or "fully expecting" him to show up!
They are eagerly awaiting their time to be with Him IN HEAVEN, not for Him to show up.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
John didn't expect these people to die and go to heaven, he thought Jesus was coming in their life time and he told them to be ready so they wouldn't be ashamed when he showed up. If you die, you would go to meet him, not the other way around. LOL. :D
There John is addressing the elect, the little children. They are the man child, the witnesses and they must make a stand in the end of days. They will stand and when they face Him they/we will not be ashamed.
Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.
James didn't tell those people that Jesus would be coming many centuries later. These were Apostles. None like them have ever been here since. They had God's ear more than anyone. God would not have led them on to think that, he was coming quickly, only to have it draw out 2000 years. These people were definitely worried about the condition of their flocks at the appearance of Jesus. For them, this was it. :) There was no millenium wait for them. It was their time. And we live in ours. :)
The last part of that verse 5:7 and 8 is...Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
That is how I understand those verses. We are looking at them with a different view in mind. I'll keep searching for the ultimate verse that truly nails this...and I know you will too. :>)
It’s still mind boggling that anyone calling themselves a “Christian” could actually honestly believe such UNBIBLICAL hogwash.