David Butterbaugh | The Fruit of the Spirit:: Patience

so what i'd like to do for this hour is to um look at uh one of the the fruit of the spirit that's found there in galatians 5 22 and 23 and about 10 years ago i did a series through looking at each of those those characteristics the fruit of the spirit that are found there and kind of looked at each one and so this morning i just thought this one might be helpful to you all hopefully and and to us and to myself as well so um if you want to open your bibles to galatians 5 22-23 galatians 5 22-23 and i'm gonna start reading in verse 19 and i'll read through verse 24 just to kind of give us the context so galatians chapter 5 beginning in verse 19 through verse 24. so we read the apostle paul writes under the inspiration of the holy spirit now the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity strife jealousy fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions envy drunkenness orgies and things like these i warn you as i warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things there is no law and those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires amen let me just pray briefly father we just thank you again for this opportunity to gather together here in in laredo and we ask for your help i pray that your holy spirit would be among us and work in in each of us lord help me to speak accurately from your word i pray that you would work in the hearts of everyone here to to cause them to to hear and to receive and to respond to your word lord so we look to you for help and for grace and we ask for your spirit to guide us and direct us we pray this in jesus name amen amen all right so what we're going to do is i just want to look at this one character trait in particular here the character trait of of patience but before we do that let me just talk a little bit about the context of this verse so the term fruit is used in various ways in the bible but the primary way that fruit is used and what we're concerned about with in studying the fruit of the spirit is as a metaphor to represent character traits attitudes and actions in the life of all true christians and so let me just ask a question you know what is a metaphor well a metaphor is a it's a figure of speech in which a word or a phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or an analogy between them so for example you might say something like uh his words cut deeper than a knife okay well that's that's a metaphor okay we're using one one word to to express something um about about something else that was spoken and so let me give you a a dictionary the vines expository dictionary defines what fruit is in this way it says used metaphorically of works or deeds fruit is the visible expression of power working inwardly and invisibly the character of the fruit being evidence of the character of the power producing it as the visible expressions of hidden lusts are the works of the flesh so the invisible power of the holy spirit in those who are brought into living union with christ produces the fruit of the spirit okay so this is something that the holy spirit produces in the lives of everyone who's a genuine christian these these character traits that we read about here in galatians 5 22 and verse 23 and let me just point out that the the fruit of the spirit now you may have heard people refer to this as the the fruits of the spirit but if you look here it's actually singular it says the fruit of the spirit is and then it gives these these character traits and so what paul is saying is that this is one unified fruit that is composed of many character traits that you can't necessarily kind of pick and choose and separate from another okay such that every true child of god if you're a christian you will possess these character traits all of them to one degree or another the holy spirit is the spirit of christ and the lord jesus christ perfectly manifested all these character traits that we see in galatians 5 verse 22. and if you're a christian those of us who are believers ultimately we're being conformed into the image of christ and that means that the holy spirit is at work producing all of these character traits in the lives of everyone who's a true christian all right and so what i want to do is just you know obviously don't have time to look at look at all these but i just want to look in particular there's one trait that's listed here the fourth one in the list the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience so i just want to look at this one this attribute this character trait of patience and see what we can learn about this and so i i guess i was thinking you know this might be beneficial you know especially for you all in light of the fact that you know you're still without a pastor it's been a couple of months and so this could you know that could produce some impatience on your part perhaps right as you wait for god to meet your needs um so i but i hope that this will be profitable for all of us to to learn what it is to be patient what is patience and why is that something that that as christians we need to possess this is a character trait that the holy spirit produces in our lives okay so what is patience let me give you some definitions uh this is just what the dictionary how the dictionary defines patience it says as a noun the quality of being patient as the bearing of provocation annoyance misfortune or pain without complaint loss of temper irritation or the like that's one definition another definition is inability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay to have patience with a slow learner another definition is quiet steady perseverance even tempered care diligence for example to work with patients and then as an adjective when we talk about someone being patient as an adjective that means to to bear pains or trials calmly or without complaint to manifest forbearance under provocation or strain another definition is not hasty or impetuous and then a fourth one is steadfast despite opposition difficulty or adversity and so you know i guess one of the things that when i was um originally when i preached this message about 10 years ago i was going through this series and what i had an experience was actually the very week that i was kind of preparing this message i had an experience with my uh phone company if you've ever had any dealings with your phone company you know that can sometimes you know not be a very pleasant experience and so what happened was i was i had to resolve a problem with my bill which had been wrong for several months and every time i called someone said they would fix it but of course it never got fixed and so i had been putting off calling them because i knew it'd probably be a long conversation and so i finally called the phone company and i got passed around to three or four different departments and you know every time you get past somebody else they ask you for your account number and the last four digits of your social security number and finally i got to somebody who you know who said they could help me and you know if i hadn't been consciously thinking about this virtue this trait of patience i i would have been very impatient okay and so finally i got to this lady who said she told me well just be patient and i will help you with this and then after about 40 minutes she had almost taken care of all my problems and she was going to help me you know cancel my phone service and at that point we got disconnected and she didn't have my number to call me back okay and so i had to call the 800 number to start all over again and so you know i think god was teaching me some lessons about patience as i was thinking about the topic okay and you've probably experienced something similar to that at some point in your in your lives right okay so let me give you a another a synonym for patients is long-suffering long-suffering and the greek word for long-suffering it's it's a different word than the word that is translated patience in the new testament but they're often found together and so here's a definition of what long-suffering is this is from vines expository dictionary long-suffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish it is the opposite of anger and is associated with mercy and is used of god in exodus 34 verse 6 romans 2 verse 4 and first peter 3 verse 20 and we'll we'll look at a couple of those verses patience is the quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial it is the opposite of it is the opposite of despondency and is associated with hope okay so in some commentators and theologians they make a distinction between a passive form of patience and an active type of patience and so i think that distinction can be kind of helpful so let me try to explain that so what they mean is that patience is often passive in the sense that it means to endure something well okay so for example you know trials in general so in luke 21 verse 19 if you want to turn there go ahead and turn there look 21 verse 19. we'll just look at this first briefly won't spend a lot of time but if you want to look at luke 21 verse 19 jesus is speaking about the persecution that his disciples will experience and he tells his disciples there in luke 21 19 he says there at the end of that paragraph he says by your endurance you will gain your lives and that word if you have a king james or a new king james that word endurance is translated patience so by it by your patience you shall possess or win your souls now we can understand what jesus means there in light of what he says in matthew 24 verse 13. you don't have to turn there we we referred to this verse this morning matthew 24 13 says but the one who endures till the end will be saved okay so our our patience or our endurance doesn't save us but it demonstrates that our our salvation is real all right so patience involves enduring all kinds of trials and holding fast to christ until until the end um another aspect of this kind of passive patience where we're you're where we're enduring something well um it could be trials that we experience as a result specifically of serving christ so for example second thessalonians one verse four you can just jot that down second thessalonians one verse four paul says this therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of god why for your steadfastness or your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring so paul commends the thessalonians for their their patience their enduring in the midst of the persecution that they were suffering because of the gospel all right and then of course paul himself endured many trials right and many persecutions for the sake of the gospel he tells the corinthians you can just jot this down if you want second corinthians six three and four second corinthians 6 3 and 4 he tells the the corinthians he says we put no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found with our ministry but as servants of god we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance or in much patience in afflictions hardships calamities beatings imprisonments riots laborers sleepless nights hunger by purity knowledge patience kindness the holy spirit genuine love all right so paul himself suffered a great all all types of persecution and trials because of the gospel sake and yet he said he did that how in much patience all right enduring these trials well all right um another example of this kind of this passive sense that you know patience can be understood is undeserved suffering as a result of doing good so you do good and you suffer undeservedly for it okay first peter you want to hear me turn there first peter 2 20s look at this one first peter 2 20. peter says he says um for what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it you endure but if when you do good and suffer for it you endure this is a gracious thing in the sight of god for to this you have been called because christ also suffered for you leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps and and other translations translate that that endure if when you do good and suffer for it you endure as take it patiently okay so these are some examples of patients being used in this passive sense of enduring trials or suffering well um and so but but patience can also be understood and to have a kind of a more active sense and it meaning uh persisting or persevering in something for example um perseverance in doing good so paul writes to the romans in romans 2 6 through 8. if you want to turn there we can look at that romans chapter 2 romans chapters 2 6-8 he says he says he will render to each one according to his works to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality he will give eternal life but for those who are self-seeking and who do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness there will be wrath and fury okay and so the idea here is that those who continue on or or persevere in doing good are said to be patient in well-doing okay kind of in an active sense another way we can understand this in kind of an you know an active sense is perseverance in bearing fruit of of a godly character so in the parable of the soils over there in luke 8 15 jesus explains the parable to his disciples and he tells them in luke 8 15. you can just i'll just read this luke 8 15 he says as for that in the good soil they are those who hearing the word hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit how with patience okay meaning that they continue on they persevere in bearing fruit and then another sense that we can look at you know this idea of being patient having patience in a kind of an active sense is is persevering in running the race that is set before us in hebrews 12 verse 1. look at that real quick we'll turn over there hebrews 12 verse 1 the writer says he says therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance or or patience other translations the king james has patience let us run with patience the race that is set before us okay and so what does he mean here he means well patience is is active in the sense that as believers we are to run the race that's set before us enduring right pressing ahead and persevering you know like a like a marathon runner who's running a race through fatigue and pain and cramps and you know dehydration all the other obstacles that might come his way to finish the race okay and so we want to this virtue that that jesus says is a fruit of the spirit in other words the holy spirit produces this in my life in your life if you're a christian all right it involves not only enduring well suffering well but also in actively persisting or persevering uh in the christian life and so those are just some of the different ways that the word patience is used in the new testament but the basic meaning is to endure well under trials to not retaliate hastily to exercise self-restraint when provoked and to persevere in doing good and bearing the fruit of godly character okay so that's what's kind of encapsulated in this fruit of the holy spirit which is called patience all right so let me give you some examples of of patients in the bible some examples that we can look at and maybe learn some things from that might be helpful to our own lives so how about how about noah what do we know about noah well we're told in second peter 2 5 that noah was a herald or a preacher of righteousness and then in genesis 6 9 we read that he was a righteous man blameless in his generation that he walked with god and he was about 600 years old when the flood came so presumably he preached and warned people about god's coming judgment for many years and undoubtedly he faced much opposition and ridicule and he's included in the in the hall of faith in hebrews 11 and we read this in verse 7 you can just listen to verse seven we're told by faith noah being worn by god concerning events as yet unseen in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith and so noah demonstrated long-suffering and perseverance in doing good in the face of severe opposition okay so he's an example an example to us another one another example are the prophets the prophets are are good examples of patience and perseverance in the midst of suffering in james 5 verse 10 when we turn over there look at james james 5 verse 10 we're specifically told this james tells us he says he says as an example of suffering and patience brothers take the prophets who spoke in the name of the lord okay so we're told specifically to look at them and to to to see a good example of those who who suffered and did so with patience with perseverance what do we know about the lives of the prophets well consider jeremiah the life of jeremiah if you know anything about his life he had a very difficult life his messages of repentance were not very well received uh in jeremiah 26 you can just listen to this jeremiah 26 verses 8 and 9 we're told this 26 8 9 we read and when jeremiah had finished speaking all that the lord had commanded him to speak to all the people then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him saying you shall die why have you prophesied in the name of the lord saying this house shall be like shiloh and this city shall be desolate without inhabitant and all the people gathered around jeremiah in the house of the lord so jeremiah endured much suffering and persecution as he pursued the ministry that god had given him in fact although he was a faithful preacher of righteousness and calling israel to repent there are only two people mentioned in the entire book of jeremiah who responded favorably to his preaching one was his scribe and another was an ethiopian eunuch who served the king okay and yet he continued to persevere in his calling and service to god and so and and jeremiah is a good representative of all the prophets um in stephen's sermon to the council on acts 7 52 you don't have to turn there but in acts 7 52 this is what stephen declares he says he says which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute okay and that's a rhetorical question because they persecuted all of them all the prophets were persecuted right and then stephen says and they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one whom you have now betrayed and murdered and so so we are to look to the prophets as an example of those who who suffered with patience and that should be an encouragement to us you know whenever we experience some relatively minor opposition or persecution maybe at work maybe when you're witnessing to people you know maybe within our families or the people that you live with right well we should remember the prophets to remember the severe opposition that they endured and they did so with patience all right and that should be an encouragement to us to seek to do the same by the help of the holy spirit who indwells us if we're a christian and who's producing this fruit in us if we're a christian all right okay how about another example in the old testament um how about job if you're in james james says in verse 10 of chapter 5 he says you know as an example of suffering and patience brothers take the prophets who spoke in the name of the lord so that's one example that we can look to of those who suffered patiently and who were demonstrated patients then in verse 11 he says he gives us another old testament example of patience and he's talking about job he says behold we consider those blessed who remained steadfast you have heard of the steadfastness or that could be translated the patience or the perseverance of job and you have seen the purpose of the lord how the lord is compassionate and merciful okay and you remember the life of job right i mean you know what what job experienced what he endured and you remember how how he responds after god allows satan to test him those remember those four messengers come to him almost simultaneously one comes right after another to tell him that first of all his possessions and his livestock have been destroyed and that all of his servants and his children have been have been killed right they come one after another right and job um you know experiences all this basically the same time and we read this in job 1 20-22 job job says this job 1 20-22 says that we read then job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped and he said naked i came from my mother's womb and naked shall i return the lord gave and the lord is taken away blessed be the name of the lord in all this job did not sin or charge god with wrong and then later on in job in the next chapter of job chapter 2 god allows satan to to attack not only all his possessions take all his possessions and his children but he allows him to attack his health remember that and we read in in chapter 2 of job verses 7 through 10. job is to be an example to us of patience and suffering we read this so satan went out from the presence of the lord and he struck job with loathsome sores from the soul of his foot to the crown of his head and he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes then his wife said to him do you still hold fast your integrity curse god and die but he said to her you speak as one of the foolish women would speak shall we receive good from god and shall we not receive evil in all this job did not sin with his lips okay and then you know although job does later on in the book you remember he does question god regarding his suffering later on but he resolves to trust god in spite of the intense suffering that he that he endured and so we read this in job job 19. if you're in job you can turn over there if not i'll read this job 19 25 through 27. we read job says this for i know that my redeemer lives and at the last he will stand upon the earth and after my skin has been thus destroyed yet in my flesh i shall see god whom i shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another my heart faints within me all right so god job demonstrated tremendous uh patience in in in the midst of some very severe and very intense suffering and trials and he is to be an example he's someone that we are to look to as an example when we suffer with you know for the most part the trials that we go through are not uh nearly as intense as what job went through but but we are to look to him as an example okay as someone who did suffer well and continue to persevere in patience and and if we had time we could probably look at you know i would ask you if you can think of some other examples in the old testament of of saints that demonstrated this virtue this character trait of patience but let's look at the new testament let's think about some people in the new testament who demonstrated this character trait of patience how about the apostle paul we talked about him earlier paul endured a great deal of persecution for the sake of the gospel right for the sake of christ in second corinthians 11 2 corinthians 11 23-28 he lists the sufferings that he endured as an apostle okay and i'll just summarize these but this is what he says that he experienced as an apostle of christ says he experienced imprisonments beatings he was often near death he received 39 lashes five times he was beaten with rods three times he was stoned he was shipwrecked he was left adrift at sea he talks about in being in danger from robbers danger from his own people danger from various sources he was often without food in cold and exposure and yet despite all of this he could write to timothy in second timothy 3 10 and 11. second timothy 3 10 11 he he writes to timothy and he wants to encourage timothy to follow paul his example of patience and steadfastness and so what is this is what he says to timothy he says you however have followed my teaching my conduct my aim in life my faith my patience my love my steadfastness my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at antioch at iconium and at lystra which persecutions i endured yet from them all the lord rescued me all right and so he is exhorting timothy to look to him as an example of someone who suffered and yet did so with with with patience with perseverance um and then in first corinthians 11 verse 1 paul instructs the corinthians he says to them he says be imitators of me as i am of christ okay and so we can certainly imitate paul's patience and steadfastness in the face of whatever opposition we may face right because the opposition we face you know most assuredly is going to be less severe than what he endured all right so he's an example somebody we can look to to help us to grow in this virtue this character trait of patience uh and then you know who's the i mean the supreme example of of patience christ yeah christ himself right the lord jesus christ and paul he testifies to this himself this is what paul says turn here first timothy let's look at this first timothy 1. first timothy 1 verses 15 and 16. so paul writing to timothy and he says the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom i am the foremost or the chief but i received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost jesus christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life okay so paul tells us that one reason that he received mercy from christ from jesus is so that jesus might display his perfect patience in paul's life and that this would be an example to all who would believe in christ okay so think about this how is jesus patient with paul well think about paul's life i mean what did paul spend a great deal of his life prior to his conversion doing well he spent most of his adult life killing and persecuting christians right and and yet jesus patiently endured this persecution of himself remember what he said jesus said on the road to damascus he asked paul he says saul saul why are you persecuting me right because paul was was persecuting and hunting down and chasing down and murdering having christians murdered and so so jesus is is the perfect example of patience that we are to look to now think about this if jesus demonstrated his patience and long-suffering to the chief of sinners in saving paul well this should assure all sinners of the certainty of receiving pardon for anyone who comes to christ on his terms and sincerely repents and seeks forgiveness and mercy right i mean paul was what he was a murderer he was a blasphemer and yet christ showed his mercy to even him and transformed him into the great apostle to the gentiles so this is to be a pattern or example for those of us who are followers of christ to be what well to be patient first of all with unbelievers you know as you're we're engaging people we're seeking to call them to christ and you know maybe you've got some friend that you've been you've been somebody you've been trying to witness to for a long time and and you know you don't seem to be making any progress well well we should remember what you know the patience that christ had specifically towards paul that should help us to be patient with unbelievers and and you know the same way that god has been patient with us right and if we're to follow his example of patience towards paul while paul was an unbeliever we certainly to be need to be patient and have long suffering with believers right who may irritate us with their personality quirks or who may just be more difficult to get along with right i mean does anybody know anyone like that right okay we all have you know people in our lives that could you know believers that could be very difficult and yet christ is our example to be of patience toward not only unbelievers but certainly other believers that may be more difficult for us to get along with so jesus demonstrates his patience towards paul and he also demonstrated his patience and long suffering with the disciples remember that frequently the disciples would argue over which of them was the greatest and jesus would patiently instruct them that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is the one who serves the most and who is servant of all and so in luke 20 20 2 in verse 25 through 27 he says this to his disciples he says i'll just read this luke 22 20 5-27 he says the kings of the gentiles exercise lordship over them and those in authority over them are called benefactors but not so with you rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as the one who serves for who is the greater one who reclines at table or one who serves is it not the one who reclines at table but i am among you as the one who serves okay so jesus was very patient with his disciples because frequently on several occasions he had to have this conversation with them they would ask him to talk to him about you know who's the greatest and jesus would patiently explain to them the greatest among you is the one who who was the servant of all okay who demonstrates humility okay so those are some examples from the bible of people who demonstrated saints who demonstrated this attribute this character trait that's that that the apostle paul says is a fruit of the spirit this is something that the holy spirit produces in the lives of everyone who's a genuine christian so why is it important for us for you and me i mean if we're if we're believers why is it important for us to cultivate this grace this virtue of patience why is it important okay well let me give you some reasons okay one is because because god the father is patient okay christ is a supreme example right uh certainly in his in his humanity of patience but god the father is patient okay and so we are to be like god so let me romans 2 verse 4 let's turn there romans 2 verse 4. romans chapter 2 verse 4. the apostle paul writes or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that god's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance okay so now some people you you know can abuse the patience of god and presume that god is going to be patient with you forever um and we and that's the point of this verse we don't want to make that mistake god's patience towards unrest unrepentant sinners won't won't last forever but nonetheless god is patient and if and if you are not yet a believer in christ if you're not saved as long as you still have breath god's patience and mercy are being extended to you but you know you don't want to presume on that right if you're a young person don't presume that you have many years left to repent of your sins and to believe on christ now you know some of us a number of us attended a funeral just last week last monday for nicole morellis the michael and debbie their oldest daughter she was only 23. she had just given birth to her first child a couple weeks ago and my daughter had spent a lot of time with her taking some classes at uh pregnancy classes and so my wife had spent a lot of time with her recently and so it's a you know it's a shock now thankfully there's hope to believe that she did trust in christ for salvation and and so we can be thankful for that but we don't want to presume right we don't want to presume that we're going to have a long life to live and that we can kind of come to god at any time so what does proverbs 27 verse 1 say it says do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring okay all right so so god the father is patient all right and forbearing and so and we are to be like him here's some other verses i'll just give these to you that talk about god's patience his long suffering of psalms 86 verse 15. psalm 86 verse 15 says this but you o lord are a god merciful and gracious slow to anger or long-suffering and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness okay this is a part of god's character he is long-suffering he's patient second peter 3 9 2 peter 3 9 says the lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness but is patient toward you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance okay so god is he's patient and part of his his patience is designed to to allow men to repent men and women to come to faith to believe on him romans 15 5-6 romans 15 5-6 says this says may the god of endurance or the king james has patience so may the god of patience and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with christ jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the god and father of our lord jesus christ so here in this verse romans 15 god is identified as the god of endurance or the god of patience so it's part of his nature it's part of his character to be patient okay and so again we are to be like god if we're christians so this should be uh an attribute that we possess and that we're cultivating in our lives and and this is something that you know the theologians they distinguish what's called communicable attributes of god and incommunicable attributes and those are basically communicate attributes are ones that we can share with god to some degree okay so patience god is patient he is supremely patient and we as as his creatures are called to imitate him and so we are to be like him to demonstrate that patience in our dealings with other with unbelievers and certainly in our dealings with with with christians right and and there are other attributes that god has that are called incommunicable so for god is god has he's omnipresent okay god is eternal he's always existed these are attributes that that we don't share with god okay so theo theologians make that distinction but patience is one that we we are called to be like god in we are called to imitate him in his patience all right so that's one reason that you know why should we seek to cultivate this is because well god the father is patient himself and we are called to be like him as we are called to be like christ another reason is because the bible commands us and exhorts us to be patient okay there's some verses where we're given very specific commands colossians 3 colossians 3 verse 12. uh let me see if i got the right reference here colossians 3 yeah colossians 3 verse 12 12 and 13 we read this put on then as god's chosen ones holy and beloved compassionate hearts kindness humility meekness and patience bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the lord has forgiven you so you also must forgive okay so we're told to specifically put on certain character traits and we're told to put on compassionate hearts kindness humility meekness and to be patient to put that on to bear with one another that's a command that's given to us another command is given in romans romans 12 verse 12. go back there if you want to i'll just read this view romans 12 verse 12 says this rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer okay so these are imperatives these are things that we are told that we are to do and rejoice in hope to be patient in trials to be constant in prayer and then in first thessalonians 5 first thessalonians 5 verses 14 and 15. paul writes if you want to turn there you can we'll look at this first first thessalonians 5 14 and 15. we're told given some instruction from the apostle paul he's writing to the thessalonians he says and we urge you brothers admonish the idol encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with them all see that no one repays anyone evil for evil but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone all right so here we're exhorted to be patient with all types of brothers and sisters right we're not only you know with the the faint-hearted and the weak which you know might expect to be patient towards but even to those who are idle or unruly or undisciplined and who need to be admonished yet we're still to be patient with them okay so another reason we're given commands we're commanded as christians to to have this attribute to cultivate this character trait in our lives now where does the power come from to obey this command i mean where do we get the strength because you know some people say well you know it's just not my personality you know i'm a type a person and i just i just you know it's hard for me to be patient okay all right well you know maybe that's your native personality but if you're a christian you've been indwelt by the holy spirit and the holy spirit is producing this fruit in your lives and and you know you can't pick and choose and just say well you know yeah he's given me love and joy and kindness and but but he hasn't given me patience well no if you're a christian he's producing this in your lives all right and so we're commanded to to demonstrate patience so what where does it but how do you know how are we going to do that in in our natural ability it's we're not going to so well we need to we need the help we we need god the holy spirit to work this in us right colossians 1 verse 1. colossians 1 verse 1 i'm sorry verse 11 says paul says there may you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might god's glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy giving thanks to the father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light okay so it's god's might power working through us that that equips us gives us the endurance and patience that we need to to to uh uh to demonstrate to have patience and to do so even with joy and then ephesians 3 verses 14 through 16. ephesians 3 we're told there paul writes in verse 14 for this reason i bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being all right so so the strength to demonstrate patience comes from god from the holy spirit and we need to look to him and we need to pray that he would enable us to to demonstrate this character trait more more and more in our lives all right and another reason why you know why should we be concerned to be to be patient to have patience to demonstrate this perseverance and this long suffering well again because you know who is our perfect example of this well it's christ himself right and if we are being conformed into his image more and more as we grow as in our in our faith then more and more we should be looking like christ who who had demonstrated perfect patience another reason why this is important think about this is that patience it's a requirement for someone who would be an elder or a leader in the church first timothy 3 i'll just read this you don't have to turn to this first timothy 3 verses 2 and 3 says says therefore an overseer or an elder must be above reproach the husband of one wife sober-minded self-controlled respectable hospitable able to teach not a drunkard not violent but gentle not quarrelsome not a lover of money okay not quarrelsome now in the esv in the king james that's translated patient to be patient to be somebody who's not quarrelsome somebody who can be patient with with those who may may oppose him so this is a qualification for somebody it's for all christians right it's a fruit of the spirit that the holy spirit produces in us but especially for someone who would be a leader or a pastor and so that's an important thing to consider you know when you're looking at potential leaders and elders and even even for deacons another verse in timothy first timothy 6 11 1st timothy 6 11 paul says but as for you o man of god flee these things and pursue righteousness godliness faith love steadfastness or patience gentleness okay and and you know the man of god is a reference to timothy's authority and it's in contrast to the false teachers that paul has been describing in the preceding verses there in chapter six and and the man of god is used often in the old testament to refer to a prophet so here in 1st timothy 6 the man of god timothy is instructed to pursue steadfastness or patience along with these several other traits and to to pursue something means to seek it actively to aggressively pursue something so timothy is told to actively pursue patience among these other character traits and then another another second timothy 2 24 and 25 second timothy 2 24 and 25 paul writes and the lord's servant so this would be a reference to a leader the lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone able to teach patiently enduring evil or patient or forbearing correcting his opponents with gentleness okay so these are character traits that are especially important for for leaders all right and then one last reason you know why should we be concerned about this why should we be concerned to seek to cultivate greater patience in our lives is because patience perfects christian character in james 1 let's turn this will be our last text james 1 verses 2 through four james writes there chapter one he says verse two count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness or patience and let steadfastness let patience have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing okay so trials of various kinds are designed to test our faith and decide the word for testing here it it denotes a a positive test intended to demonstrate that one's faith is genuine and so as our faith is tested this testing produces patience and patience enables true christians to to persevere in faith to the end all right so that's another reason why we ought to be concerned about this all right let me read you in just in closing a quote from this gentleman albert barnes that i i referenced him earlier i quoted him this morning on this verse about letting patients have her perfect work in you and he says this let it be fairly developed patience let it produce its appropriate effects without being hindered let it not be obstructed in its fair influence on the soul by murmurings complaining or rebellion patience under trials is fitted to produce important effects on the soul and we are not to hinder them in any manner by a perverse spirit or by opposition to the will of god everyone who is afflicted should desire that the fair effects of affliction should be produced on his mind or that there should be produced in his soul precisely the results which his trials are adapted to accomplish all right so we should pursue patience because god is going to use that to to perfect our our faith and to enable us to to persevere and you know this is in in sharp contrast right to the lives of most unconverted people if you think about yourself before you're a christian or you think about most of the unconverted people you know in general most people are are very impatient in general um you know i when we lived in florida it's not as bad here in texas but you know if you when the light turned green if you didn't move immediately you were getting honked at right i mean people are just they're impatient and that's typical of the mindset of the world right but as those of us who are followers of christ we are to be different from the world right and one of the things that will distinguish us is this fruit that the holy spirit produces in our lives which is patience and long-suffering all right so i pray that god would help us all to develop more of this christ-like attribute and may the holy spirit produce more of this fruit of patience in all of our lives to the praise of god's glory amen let me pray our father in heaven lord we thank you for your your goodness to us we thank you for the patience you have demonstrated in our lives lord while we were unconverted patient to to draw us to yourselves lord you've been patient to us even as believers in so many ways and we thank you father and we pray that you would help us to grow in this grace this virtue of patience of long-suffering of enduring well father help us to to cultivate this help us to become more like your son the lord jesus christ father help us to be patient in our dealings with unconverted people and our dealings with other believers father we just pray that you would you would cultivate help us to cultivate this grace in our lives and lord i pray for those here who may not know you and may not know your son i pray that your patience your kindness would lead them to repentance and that they would not presume upon your patience father so please be merciful to save save our children save those who don't know you we look to you and we again thank you for your son the lord jesus christ and thank you for what you've done in our lives and what you are doing and we bless you and pray in christ's name amen

Channel: Grace Community Church Laredo

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Length: 55min 28sec (3328 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 03 2021