Yes, James was clearly warning them, his first century audience, that the Judge was standing right at the door.

James 5:8-9 says:

"You too be patient, strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door."

This warning was directed to his contemporaries:

The phrase "is near" shows urgency and imminence.

"Standing right at the door" indicates that judgment was not centuries away, but imminent.

The context of James speaks to real pressures they were under, not distant-future events.

Just like Jesus in Matthew 24:33, James used the same metaphor of the Judge at the door. In their generation, judgment came upon Jerusalem in 70 AD, fulfilling this expectation.

So yes, James was not warning us 2,000 years later. He was warning them and it came true.