Sermon "God of Patience, God of Mercy" by Rick Shabi, November 14, 2020

you know that's where we go because we know that if god said it it's absolutely true we know his promises are sure if he said it's going to happen it's going to happen we don't have to doubt we don't have to second-guess it no matter how things look in life we know that what god says is going to actually happen he is all-knowing he is wise he is gracious he is forgiving right he doesn't his will is that all of us will repent and come and and come to the knowledge well come to the knowledge of god repent and then be in his kingdom and receive eternal life we know he heals when we approach him properly in his own time not exactly when we might demand healing but when we have learned what we need to learn and when he sees the faith in us and we learn and grow and see his healing in us we even learn that god is jealous he doesn't want us to serve any other guy just him completely rely and depend on him he's all we need there's other things that we could list we could go on and on and on but let's go to the bible and look at a couple more a couple more things that i haven't mentioned back in exodus 34 after god gave the ten commandments to israel after moses passed on some of the statutes and the everyday life things that israel needed to pay attention to and when he was coming down from mount sinai with the ten commandments that were written on stones on tablets of stone in verse 5 of exodus 34 it says this it says the eternal descended in the cloud and stood with moses there and proclaimed the name of the lord and the lord passed before moses and proclaimed the lord yhwh the lord god merciful and gracious long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth he's merciful we all have experienced god's mercy every single one of us in this room and he's long-suffering toward us and boy can we be thankful for his mercy and boy can we be thankful that he is long-suffering with us you know if we go on and read it it shows just how great god's mercy is keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin by no means clearing the guilty he doesn't tolerate it but he is merciful and gives us time to overcome and to repent visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation he is merciful he is long suffering with you and me in the new testament in second peter ii peter 3. familiar set of verses here in verses 8 and 9. we see a few other attributes of god verse 8 says beloved don't forget this one thing that with the lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day god is timeless you know he doesn't count days the way that we do to him there is no time because he's eternal the lord verse 9 is not slack concerning his promise in fact he very much knows his promises and is very we can count on him that in his time he will keep them but the lord is not slacking concerning his promise as some counts slackness but he's long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance he is patient with us he is long suffering to us and that is something that we should think about and be so so grateful for back in luke 6 christ had this to say about god the father luke 6 verses 35 and 36 oh let's look at verse 36 luke 6 36 he commands us therefore be merciful just as your father also is merciful so we see that these attributes that god has that he displays toward us and he shows them to us first are the very attributes he was looking to develop in you and me as we go through our life he is long-suffering toward us none of us have gotten the swift retribution that we all deserve when we when we sin and we fall short of what he wants us to do he is merciful he isn't this stern god who slaps us up against the head and and the minute we walk out we step out of bounds he's merciful doesn't mean that he condones what we're doing but he is he gives us time jesus christ underneath understands our frame he understands exactly what it is that we go through and how tough this life is and how tough it is to have the carnal mind that we all still have you know bit by bit bit by bit being washed away and replaced by god's holy spirit david was aware of this too back in psalm 145 psalm 145 and verses 8-9 david says this the lord the lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and full of mercy the lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and great is mercy he is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works slow to anger that's patient that's something that some of us can work on right slow to anger because god is slow to anger and aren't we thankful that he's slow to anger and he's mercy merciful and we've all experienced his mercies back a few chapters in 103 psalm 103 we often look at psalm 103 where it lists god's benefits orpha very familiar with those in the first few verses of psalm 103 it tells us that you know not to forget his benefits he forgives us he heals us he redeems our life from destruction when we get down to verse 8 we see more the lord is merciful he's gracious he's slow to anger and abounding in mercy he explains that down in verse 10 he has not dealt with us according to our sins if he had we'd all be we'd all be dead or we'd all be in a much worse state than we're in he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor punished us according to our iniquities he's patient with us he's merciful with us those two qualities let's talk about those today and what they mean to us and how important they are to us and how god demonstrates those to us because they are extremely important qualities i should mention you know as you go through the bible you see the word patience and the patience that i'm going to be talking about today is the long long-suffering slow to anger patients there's other patients in the greek it's hupamoni it talks about the patient endurance that we we endure all our trials we keep going until the end that's patience but it's a different type of patience today we're going to talk about how god is with us and how we need to be that we need to develop this patience of being slow to anger and merciful and see how god works through all that i'll mention uh james five verses seven and eight in that it tells us you know in james 5 7 8 to be patient and that patience there in james five seven and eight is the patience that we're talking about later on in verse 11 in james five it also uses the word patience but that's the hope poopomoney the patient endurance enduring through our trials and keeping our eye on god and keeping our eye on his plan and keeping our eye on the vision that he has for us let me just talk a little bit about some of the places that we can see god's patience and his mercy let's look at the nation of israel god called israel or he brought them out of egypt they were a hopeless people they were slaves as we know they had no place to go they weren't going to be able to muster the power to overcome the greatest power on earth at that time in pharaoh but god brought them out he took them across the red sea when they were scared to death of what the pharaoh bearing down on them and yet israel didn't get it you know we read just last week in the bible study in hebrews 3 where god said those people israel they tested me they tried me they even made me they made me in the new testament it says angry but in the old testament or in the old in the king james version it says that they grieved him they didn't give him what he wanted they should have known better they should have just simply been look at god what you've done for us look at what you've done everything you say i'm going to do but they didn't do that and god could have been the type of god that says you know this people as he said when we read in hebrews 3 about hardening our hearts they always go astray they just don't pay attention to me they just keep doing the same thing over and over and over and over again how many times was god patient with israel how many times was he merciful with israel if it had been you and i and and and and we were the ones who were over israel and bringing them through and did everything that we could for them and they kept just disrespecting in that way not paying attention to what had been told would we have said just wipe them off the face of the earth you know god actually said that remember to moses and he said moses i'm just going to get rid of this people i'm going to raise the nation up from you and moses said no no no you love these people they're your people don't do that and god relented but he saw in moses heart something he wanted to see be patient with them be merciful to them and god was god was and he despite everything they did he still led them into the promised land he still gave them the land that he said he would give them even though they probably didn't deserve it we all remember the story about the scouts but he still brought them in and gave it to him because he still had that hope that they would become the nation that he wanted them to become an example to the rest of the world a people who had lived by his laws and experienced the happiness the joy the purpose the meaning that he wanted to give them but even when they got into that land they had to have a king and you know how the kings in israel did they just disrespected god he was merciful with them for many many years and he was patient with them many many many years but it didn't last forever eventually the time came for israel to be taken out of its land and to to receive the punishment and the justice and the judgment that they deserved we can look at judah god sent jeremiah to judah and for 40 years he preached to that people 40 years he warned them turn back to me do away with your gods understand what you've been called to turn back and know what you're doing and honor me with your heart mind and soul and in that time just the physical obedience jeremiah was there god sent him as a warning to the people if you don't do it babylon's going to come in a kingdom from the north and you're going to lose everything but they didn't listen to jeremiah in fact they hated him they made fun of him they made his life miserable but he kept doing what god called him to do that's what god's people do it's not a popularity contest with the people you're speaking to it's giving god's word and truth to it for people to hear and to turn back to him judah didn't do it for 40 years 40 years god gave that people was he patient with them was he merciful to them he absolutely was maybe far far longer than you and i would have ever ever been matthew 23 it is one of my favorite verses in the in the bible when jesus christ was there in judea when he came physically you know to the people did all the works that he did healed everyone that was brought to him spoke truth verse 37 he knew he knew that they wanted to kill him just like they did all the other prophets that were sent they just weren't listening we don't want to hear what you have to say we want to do things our way so you know what the best thing to do is kill the messenger because we want to do things our way is what the message from the jews of that day were in verse 37 and matthew 23 you see christ's heart you see the mercy you see the patience that he has with these people he didn't you know he didn't just kind of lay them out and say destroy them all get rid of all of them we saw that with some of the disciples before that when james and john said let's just wipe out these people he said no no no we can't do that right be patient with them be merciful with them verse 37 oh jerusalem jerusalem the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her didn't listen to all the warnings god sent how often i wanted to gather your children together as hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you weren't willing was he patient with jerusalem who had killed all those prophets that were sent away and were about to kill him too yes he was was he merciful yes he was yes he was you know a few times as jesus christ spoke he compared that generation to some surprising cities let's go back to matthew 11. matthew 11 and verse 23. and here he is because people aren't even paying attention to the works that he did the miracles that were occurring and what he did in verses 21 through 24 he kind of chides them for that but let's look at verse 23 it says you capernaum who are exalted to heaven will be brought down to hades for the mighty works which were done in you had been done in sodom it would have remained until this day isn't that interesting capernaum you people who say you are god's people the jews the city you know all the mighty works that were done in you everything that you've seen you know what when christ returns it's going to be more tolerable for of all places sodom than it was for you he says in verse 24 if what had happened in sodom if what had happened in your city had happened in sodom you know they would have remained until this day they wouldn't have been they wouldn't have been destroyed and that's what he's saying to a people that thought they were the people of god interesting comparison in in chapter 11. he makes another interesting comparison in chapter 12 of matthew the pharisees are asking for some signs are you who you say you are show us prove it they weren't looking at his works they weren't looking at his character they weren't looking at his words of of truth they wanted a sign and in verse 39 christ answered them in matthew 12 and said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet jonah for as jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth verses we've all looked at versus that we know what jesus christ is saying verses that if the world was paying attention would be a sign of where the messiah is and they wouldn't be keeping the days they're keeping verse 41 he says the men of nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of jonah and indeed a greater than jonah is here you know as the people heard that and jesus christ said what like what you're comparing us to nineveh you say that nineveh would have responded better than us the people of god you mean they would have listened they would have listened to god they would have paid attention and in those two cities when we look at those two cities we can see the scope of god's patience and mercy not just with his people but with all mankind because we have to remember that jesus christ died for all mankind god loves all mankind his purpose and his will is that every man woman and child when it's his time to call them will repent choose him receive eternal life that's what his will is not just for the church of god today certainly for us today but for all of mankind and jesus christ uses these two cities he uses these two cities and in it we find examples great examples of his patience and his mercy even on people who weren't his people let's go back let's go back to genesis and look at this sodom who christ said if the works that i did in you capernaum were done in them they would have remained until this day he was telling of course your hearts are hardened you just simply don't want to hear what i have to say you're still making excuses for yourself and but back in genesis 15 before we get to sodom i just want to reference here verse 16. in genesis 15 we have abraham and god it has him in a vision and showing him what's going to befall his descendants in the generations ahead and in verse 16 it says this it says but in the fourth generation abraham your descendant shall return here where we are today for the iniquity of the amorites is not yet complete the amorites are here they are sinful people but their iniquity is not yet complete it tells us that god was being patient with that people they weren't at the point where he would say or the amorites need to be ended judgment is now on the amorites what was he waiting for what was he waiting for we go back to a couple chapters to chapter 13 we're introduced to sodom that's so infamous in bible lore of people who know the bible and the sins that went on there that just seem so atrocious and for years we might have thought how could anyone have lived in bat or in sodom today we're beginning to understand how you live in sodom as we watch the morality in the world around us in chapter 13 of genesis in verse 10 we see abraham and lot coming to a decision their flocks have increased so much they can't craze in the same land so so lot is going to move over abraham lets flat decide where do you want to move your lot your flocks to first tennis says that lot lifted up his eyes he saw the plane of jordan that it was well watered everywhere before the eternal destroyed sodom and gomorrah like the garden of the lord like the land of egypt as you go toward zoar then lot chose for himself all the plain of jordan and lot journeyed east and they separated from each other abram dwelt in the land of canaan lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as sodom i'm going to choose to live in this city how was the city at this point in time verse 13 the men of sodom were exceedingly wicked they weren't this innocent little group of people they were exceedingly wicked at the time lot decided to move there they weren't just wicked god uses the the adjective they were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the lord they had disregarded everything when you read through the commentaries you know they'll say that what they did the men of sodom not only were they sinful but they had taken the natural of order things of order of things and switched it around we know exactly what they're talking about it was a land that was just even sinning against nature the natural things had been undone or were being undone in sodom so when lot moved there and god saw where lot was going this was a sinful sinful city back then when we come to chapter 14 we see sodom again and they're under attack when we look at verse 1 from these kings these kings of shinar um cheddar lomer king of elam and title king of of nations says in verse 2 of chapter 14 they made war with the king of sodom and they made war with the king of gomorrah and these other places as well and here they were you know sodom a wicked place now at war with someone who's attacking them and as you go through the story you see that sodom gets conquered if we come down to verse um verse 10 it says the valley of sidon was full of asphalt pits and the kings of sodom and gomorrah fled some fell there and the remainder fled to the mountains and then they the aggressors they took all the goods of sodom and gomorrah and all their provisions and went their way they also took lot abram's brother son who dwelt in sodom and his goods and departed well maybe this was the retribution of god on sodom an exceedingly wicked city now they've been now they've been captured now they've been conquered now they've lost everything isn't that the justice god would want for that city and yet god was merciful to sodom that was not their end verse 14 when abram heard that his brother was taken captive he armed his 318 trade servants who were born in his own house and he went in pursuit as far as dan he divided his forces against them by night and he had his service attacked them and pursued them as far as hoba which is north of damascus so he brought back all the goods he also brought back his brother a lot and his goods as well as the women and the people what why would god let his servants go and rescue sodom of all cities they were exceedingly wicked where's this mercy coming from why did god bless abram abraham to do that he is a merciful and he is a patient and he is a long-suffering god and he's got a mind to see what people are about verse 17 the king of sodom went out to meet him at the valley of shaiva that is the king's valley after his return from the defeat of cheddar loma and the kings who were with him and then melchizedek we know who melchizedek is we'll be talking about that later in hebrews 7 when we get to it then melchizedek came to salem brought out bread and wine he was the priest of god most high and he blessed him and said blessed be abram of god most high possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be god most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand job well done abram good job that you went out and rescued sodom good job that you brought lot back good job that you brought back all the things of sodom and god is blessing him for that abram responded by giving a tithe and verse 21 the king of sodom he's very grateful what's going on he knows he knows who abraham is he knows what abraham believes he knows that what has happened probably understands that it's the god of abraham that has allowed this to happen the king of sodom said abram just let me have the people take all the goods for yourself i am just so thankful that the kingdom remains and you've done this but notice abram he wasn't in it for the money he wasn't in it for what he could get out of it abram said to the king of sodom i've raised my hands to the lord god most high the possessor of heaven and earth i will take nothing from a thread to a sandal strap and that i will not take anything that is yours what you should say i made abram rich and then he tells him what he will take just to pay back his expenses abram wasn't in it for any reason other god led abram to save sodom at that point even though they were wicked the iniquity of sodom was not yet complete god was being merciful to them now that they've seen god involved in their lives now that they've seen this happen to them what would they do what would they do with what god had given them abraham didn't even take the spoils what would they do with that would they recognize what had gone on with them let's go forward to luke 6 because there's a lesson for us in that as well you notice that it says here that you know god has given has delivered your enemies into your hand it wasn't that abraham saw sodomos oh they're they're our friends they're friends to me and i'm friends with the this evil wicked city as god calls it he says he's delivered your enemies into your hands in luke 6 35 we've already read verse 36 but look at the verse leading up to where we're told that we need to learn to be merciful just as god our father is merciful verse 35 of luke 6 love your enemies do good and lend hoping for nothing in return and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the most high for god is kind to the unthankful and evil he's merciful with them he's patient with them and he tells us don't you be judgmental don't you wish destruction on them let me be the judge of when it is it may not be now god will take care of things in his time but you people of god you be kind you don't judge you don't cut them off you don't say all these things evil about them let god do it love your enemies do good and lend hoping for nothing in return kind of a lesson for us abraham lived that abraham lived it what do we learn from that what do we learn about doing the things that god would have us do patience and mercy he's full of that we've all experienced it sodom experienced it the world is experiencing it now many of us are experiencing it more than others god is patient god is merciful and he will determine when the time and if the time comes for someone to be judged or punished well that's sodom let's leave sodom alone for a minute let's talk about the city of nineveh the city of nineveh was a very evil city as well we've all heard of the kingdom of assyria nineveh was the capital city of assyria and we know that assyria was a very cruel a fierce nation people dreaded even the thought of the assyrians coming near them you know we read of of um we read of judah and the the dread that would come on people if the king of assyria was even anywhere in the neighborhood they were just an awful awful place we can't even imagine you know back at the time when isis was alive and well and wreaking its terror across the middle east you would read about the things they did and our minds would be boggled like wow what a cruel people whatever assyria did it was worse than anything we've ever heard about isis and what they did and what they wreaked on people there was no mercy there was no patience they were torturous terrible people none of us could even imagine what it would be like to be in the face of assyria so you see the world around we're just in dread if assyria was even looking their way and you see that you know in judah and it was assyria who conquered israel and their lives were absolutely miserable god sent the prophet to nineveh of all places they weren't jews that were there they were assyrians that were there let's go back to jonah book of jonah in the minor prophets and for some reason god decided this evil city this evil city i'm going to send i'm going to send my prophet jonah and you remember the story of jonah when god says go to nineveh and tell them to repent jonah says i want to be anywhere other than nineveh i don't want to go there and he actually tries to run away to tarshish right and so you know the story of of how he how you know he was thrown into the sea and god created or made this great fish appear and protected him during that time jonah had to realize it's not where i want to go it's not what i want to do it's what god wants me to do and even reluctantly jonah went on to nineveh he had no choice we learned you know sometimes there is just no choice we do what god wants us to do and if we resist it and we reject it he'll get us there one way or the other let's read through chapters three and four here of jonah and just see what god said now jonah has already been through the ordeal of the great fish he's been vomited onto dry land in chapter 3 verse 1 it says the word of the eternal came to jonah the second time saying arise go to nineveh that great city and preach to it the message that i tell you so jonah arose and went to nineveh according to the word of the lord now nineveh was an exceedingly great city a three-day journey in extent and jodah began to enter the city on the first day's walk and he cried out and said yet forty days and nineveh will be overthrown in forty days you guys are done now that could have created people in nineveh say who do you think you are telling us that that's probably what you know that what jonah expected and then god in 40 days would just wipe nineveh off of the face of the earth but they had a totally different reaction the people of nineveh believed god proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them and word came to the king of nineveh and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe covered himself with sack loss and sat in ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying let neither man nor beast heard nor flock taste anything don't let them eat or drink water but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to god yes let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands he recognized it was a fierce city they were a terrible people who can tell if god will turn and relent and turn away from his fierce anger so that we may not perish totally unexpected jonah had to be floored when this happened verse 10 god saw their works that they turned from their evil way and god relented from the disaster that he had said he would bring upon them and he didn't do it certainly an example of god's mercy okay nineveh you've you've made this you've made this motion you've done these things certainly i'll show mercy on you and i'll relent from destroying you in 40 days was god patient with nineveh sure did he expect that when he says let them there in 40 days he would see what they had to do okay you know what they've done it i will be patient with them let's see what they do with this these actions they're taken and this mercy and this patience that i showed them well in chapter four we find out that here god's servant had to learn something about mercy and patience as well well god was very merciful and patient even with jonah who ran the other way when god told him to do something but god was merciful in providing that fish keeping him from drowning was patient with him you're gonna do my will i get it okay pick yourself up go to nineveh and do that jonah had some other lessons to learn he very much wanted nin of a destroyed he wanted them gone he wanted to be wiped off of the earth that was what his mind was on just get these people off of the face of the earth it displeased jonah exceedingly and he was angry god why would you do this to this evil city why would you let them off of the hook so he prayed to god and said ah lord wasn't this what i said when i was still in my country that's why i fled previously to tarshish for i know you're a gracious and merciful god i know it and i knew you would relent from doing these things i know that you're a gracious and merciful god slow to anger well he'd experienced it himself an abundant and loving kindness one who relents from doing harm therefore now o lord just take my life from me for it's better for me to die than to live i can't believe i'm even part of this i can't believe i'm even seeing the fact that this nineveh city is going to remain here and god asked him is it right jonah is it right for you to be angry what stake do you have in this what is it to you if i show mercy and patience to someone what are you angry about maybe you need to look at yourself maybe you need to become merciful as your father in heaven is merciful maybe you need to become patient as your father in heaven is patient first five so jonah went out of the city he sat on the east side of the city and there he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city what's going to happen what was really going to go on here god prepared a plant made to come up over jonah that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery so jonah was appropriately and very grateful for the plant thank you god for providing this thank you for shielding me from the sun but as morning dawn the next day god prepared a worm and it damaged the plant that it withered and it happened when the sun arose that god prepared a vehement east wind and the sun beat on jonah's head so that he grew faint and he wished death for himself and said you know again can i just die what am i having to endure this stuff for he had a lesson to learn god said to jonah is it right for you to be angry about the plant i gave it and i let it die and now you're angry about it and he said it is right for me to be angry even to death how dare you kill that plant that i was relying on but god taught him a powerful lesson you have pity on the plant for which you have not labored you haven't made it grow it came up in a night and it perished in a night i gave it to you as a blessing you had nothing to do with it but now you even want to die because it was taken from you and god tells him shouldn't i pity nineveh that great city in which there are more than 120 000 persons who can't discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock jonah remember i love all of mankind i didn't i he wasn't going to send his son for just a select group of people i love them all i look forward to the time when they all come to repentance it may not be in this lifetime well it certainly won't be in this lifetime but it will be at a time when god decides they will do it no jonah shouldn't you love them the way i love them i understand the human emotions involved i understand the eagerness and the angst that comes with watching evil people and what goes on with them you know david david wrestled with the same thing now we can turn back to psalm 94. psalm 94 and many times in the psalms we see david saying what how long are you going to wait god what are you waiting look at the wicked they prosper why aren't you doing anything about it and it can kind of bother us sometimes we might look around us maybe at the places that we work maybe in the land that we live and say what about the wicked what are you waiting so long for god looks at things differently he's not willing that any should perish and he wants to see what will they do with the opportunities that he give him that he gives them 94 verse 1 psalm o lord god to whom vengeance belongs o god to whom vengeance belongs shine forth rise up o judge of the earth render punishment to the proud come on just do it they deserve it right render punishment to the proud lord how long will the wicked how long will the wicked triumph what are you waiting for well god's patient and he's merciful they utter speech they speak insolent things all the workers of iniquity boast in themselves they break in pieces your people o lord they afflict your heritage they slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless yet they say god doesn't see god doesn't see nor does the god of jacob understand nothing is happening to the wicked and they just keep on in their way and that's what david saw in many places in the psalms as you read through it he says the same thing asaph in the psalms that he wrote you see the same sentiment there what are you waiting for what are you waiting for down at the end of of psalm 94. um let's just uh pick it up and you can read through the psalm later where he again recants this in verse 20 it says shall this throne of iniquity which devises evil by law hell fellowship with you you're going to let that happen god they gather together against the life of the righteous and they condemn innocent blood but he realizes ultimately it's god it's not for us to take the vengeance it's not for us to take the judgment and say it's time for these this to be gone but the lord has been my defense and my god the rock of my refuge he has brought on them their iniquity and he shall cut them off in their own wickedness the lord our god shall destroy them or cut them off he'll do it we patiently wait for him as he patience as he shows patience not only to us but to other people psalm 37 and verse 7 we are very thankful for the patience guide shows us we're very thankful for the mercy that god shows us we have to be patient as god shows that same patience to other people maybe people in our families maybe people in work maybe even people right in the church who may irritate us who we may look at and say you know they're not doing what they should be doing we should be just blasting them from here to wherever right but he says you be patient you be patience as i'm patient i'm patient with you and you know what i'm working with these people too let me see where they go because i'm not willing that any should perish it's not your job to make these decisions it's god verse 7 of psalm 37 rest in the lord and wait patiently for him fret because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass cease from anger forsake wrath don't be angry when we get angry our minds shut off we can't even see clearly anymore slow to anger god is slow to anger we work and we process things and god's spirit can work when we're not angry and pushing everything and we give him time cease from anger and forsake wrath don't fret it only causes harm for either do evil-doers will be cut off but those who wait on the eternal they will inherit the earth you know jonah had a real blessing to learn we may have a lesson to learn those who wait on the lord they will inherit the earth those who develop patience and mercy and waiting for god for yet a little while and the wicked will be no more indeed you'll look carefully for his place but it'll be no more the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace that's a promise of god when we learn all of what he wants us to learn when we become all of what he wants us to become not just strict obedience let me take that back not just obedience because strict obedience to his laws is exactly what he's looking for but it's what we become our attitudes our heart is it like the heart of jesus christ is it like the heart of god the father certainly it begins with obedience and paying attention diligently and carefully focused on god building the house that he's building in us exactly to his expectations but learning to wait on him and having the same attitudes that he does psalm 18. psalm 18 verse 25 here's david writing again he says with the merciful god with the merciful that's you and me what we need to become with the merciful you will show yourself merciful he gives you know we read that it was in in first john it was god who first loved us you know it was god who first showed us mercy it was god who first showed us patience and long suffering long suffering and slow to anger but he expects us to do that and turn to other people with the merciful you will show yourself mercy you we with thee merciful you will show yourself merciful with a blameless man you will show yourself blameless with the pure you will show yourself pure and with the devious you will show yourself shrewd you develop what i intend for you to develop what i've called you to develop what the holy spirit in you will lead you to if you follow if you pay attention if you don't harden your heart if you don't think it doesn't apply to me and we don't do the natural thing i'm just going to resist that i'm not even going to listen to that because i don't want to hear it like the people of sodom like judah like israel or you will save the humble people but you will bring down haughty looks so god wants us you know to look at these things and we have to ask ourselves do we show mercy do we show mercy to each other do we show patience to each other do we just write people off and say they're not even worth my time anymore i'm not even going to talk to that person anymore i'm just going to kind of cross them off my list you know god is patient god is merciful we need to be patient we need to be merciful do we cross the world off and say i'm not going to have anything to do with them anymore while i wait i'm just waiting for god to just destroy him and wipe him off the face of the earth he'll do what he wants to do in his time but in the meantime he wants us to develop the affinity and love for mankind that he has because all of mankind will be their minds will be opened and they have the opportunity they have the opportunity to know god's way i'm not going to turn to matthew 18 21-35 that is the parable if you remember of the of the debtors it's uh you know you remember that one one of the debtors had this enormous debt and he comes to his master and says please forgive my debt show mercy on me and and he does he forgives all the debt but then he runs around to someone who owes much less to him and he doesn't show mercy to that man at all in fact he wants to throw him into prison because he won't pay that little amount and god goes back to that man and says who are you i forgave you all this death and you can't show mercy to him if i show you mercy i expect that you're going to show mercy it might take some time later on to to read that read that parable in light of what we're talking about patience and mercy attribute of god some people and we touched on it already some people can mistake god's patience and mercy as tolerance as tolerance for sin i do this i've taken a little bit of liberty over here i haven't been slapped i haven't gotten the trial i haven't lost my job i haven't gotten sick so god must be okay that i've taken this little bit of liberty and i may not do he'd be doing things exactly the way the bible says to do it but since i have not done any of these things you know what god's patience and merciful he probably is okay with that we should never as god's people mistake patience and mercy as tolerance for sin and wrong behavior never never never god doesn't expect it and god doesn't take patience and mercy as his his determination that i'm being tolerant with you i'll just accept your sin it's okay with what you're doing not at all not at all let's turn to ecclesiastes ecclesiastes 8 and verse 11. you know solomon as he lived his life and here at the end of his life he writes this book of ecclesiastes says many things and very many truths and as he's thinking about you know well as he's thinking about what goes on in life and how people transgress god's law transgress the law of the land in verse 11 he says because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil now we have to remember that we have still not a 100 pure heart god is working on that with all of us so our natural tendency is exactly what solomon is talking about here if a sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily if i don't disregard sabbath god's sabbath day and he doesn't slap me up the side of the head on sunday and i have something happen like then he must be okay he must be okay with what i did with that if i resist this that i've heard and god doesn't mean that's what the way of the world is that's what we see in the in the land around us because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully said in them to do evil they look at it as an encouragement okay i'm just going to keep doing it must be okay though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days are prolonged yet god says i surely know that it will be well with those who fear god who fear before him what do the people who fear god do they obey him implicitly they're thankful for the mercy they're thankful for the patience that god chose but they don't take that as license to keep doing what i'm doing that would be silly that wouldn't be what god's way is about the world may want to preach that but that's not what god's about those who fear the lord understand what his purpose is understand that we make a mistake we repent we get up and we ask god give us your spirit and the recognition that we don't do these things because we more and more perfectly live god's way we more and more perfectly have the heart that god wants us to have verse 13 it'll be well with those who fear god remember that the fear of god is the beginning of wisdom the beginning of understanding the beginning of knowledge and what it all means at the feast we talked about that but it will not be well with the wicked who are the wicked those who disregard god's law those in the world those in the church who disregard god's law and think it's okay i can kind of just do whatever i want as long as as long as i'm not getting slapped up against the side of the head i guess god's okay with it no matter what i do and as long as i do these few basic things but it won't be well with the wicked nor will he prolong his days which are as a shadow because he doesn't fear god so he's telling us something there but he's also telling us and showing us that in what has happened with these people that we have talked about we can talk about the land of israel god was merciful with them he was patient with them all those years he took them into the promised land that was hundreds of years before he sent assyria in to take them away at that point god exacted his judgment on israel at that point he realized they're not coming back to repentance they're not turning back to me their iniquity is complete and just like at a point in time god looked at the amorites who he said to abraham you know these people you're going to be brought back here because today the amorites their iniquity is not complete but when god took when god brought israel into the promised land he determined their iniquity is complete they aren't going to turn to me at all they're going to continue in their evil ways israel lost it all god was patient and merciful with them but the time came when judgment came and that was the end of israel same thing happened to judah god sent warnings to them he sent prophets to them he was patient he was merciful for 40 years he said turn to me turn to me turn back they didn't pay attention they finally came to the realization they're not going to repent i see what's in their heart they're going to continue in the same way they always have they lost it all sodom had the opportunity god a wicked city god allowed abraham to go in and rescue that city from being captured and from being you know what many of us would have said they got what they deserved they went on for how many more years because at that time in genesis 14 that we read about their iniquity was not complete god was being patient and merciful with them but when you come to chapters 18 and 19 you see sodom was destroyed in a day the time came for patience and mercy to be over and god exacted his judgment on them and that was the end of sodom same thing with nineveh you know we read the beginning of the story of nineveh in the book of jonah we read that but that's not the complete story of nineveh let's go back to the little book of nahum very seldom do we turn to the book of nahum jonah micah and then nahum and let's see what god writes in this little book because the little book of nahum gives us the rest of the story of nineveh god was merciful and patient with them but we read in nahum some 50 or 100 years later when god exacts his vengeance on nineveh because they didn't get it either when jonah went to them apparently their iniquity was not complete and god was being impatient in a patient and merciful to them that was in 760 a.d but here somewhere in the 650 a.d area god sends nahum to prophesy to them first one nahum one the burden or the oracle against nineveh the book of the vision of nahim the elkishite here we have some of the attributes of god god is jealous he avenges he avenges and is furious he will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserves wrath for his enemies the lord is slow to anger nineveh experienced that he is slow to anger and he is great in power and he will not at all acquit the wicked he isn't tolerated of sin and his patience and mercy should never be construed to do that he will not at all acquit the wicked the lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his feet he rebukes the sea and he makes it dry he dries up all the rivers basian and carmel wither and the flower of leaven and wilts the mountains quake before him the hills melt and the earth heaves at his presence yes the world and all who dwell in it who can stand before his indignation who can endure the fierceness of his anger his fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by him verse 7 the lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knows those who trust in him but with an overflowing flood he will make an utter end of its place and darkness will pursue his enemies now in verse 8 as nahum is sending this message to nineveh the wrath of god is about to be poured out on them and in verse 8 when you look at the commentaries and use when it talks about with an overflowing flood when nineveh was finally overthrown it was a mighty city the walls were 100 feet tall they said you could drive three chariots side by side across the walls it looked like an impregnable city that there could be no place more safe on earth but the time had come for judgment to be on nineveh and as it turns out entered 612 bc when nineveh was completely overthrown the tigris river did overflow and the flood was so great that it damaged the walls of nineveh the babylonians marched into the city and conquered them an act of god it was time nineveh had not done it all what god it said the time the iniquity of their complete they're not going to turn back to me they're just keeping on doing the things everything they learned back a hundred years ago they become worse people it didn't make an effect on them at all and so we can go down through the chapters here and let's go to um chapter two and see what this people were like verse 11 of chapter two here's a good description of what uh nineveh was again they were the fiercest and even history shows through everything that just what a cruel and torturous people they are where is the dwelling of the lions verse 11 and the feeding place of the young lions where the lion walked the lioness in lion's cub and no one made them afraid they just tore people to pieces they were there and no one could really stand against assyria they were just so powerful and there was dread and they just tore people apart the lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs killed for his lionesses filled his caves with prey and his dens with flesh cruel people they show no mercy on the people they conquered none whatsoever even though god showed them great mercy back in around 760 a.d when jonah was sent there behold in verse 13 god says i am against you i will burn your chariots in smoke and the sword shall devour your young lions i will cut off your prey from the earth and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more it's done nineveh i've seen what you've done with my mercy and with my patience if you haven't progressed at all you're even worse now you took my mercy and patience and thought that it was tolerance but i don't tolerate wickedness chapter 3 verse 1 woe to the bloody city is full of lies and robbery it's never departs if you wander into it no mercy you're dead the noise of a whip and the noise of rattling wheels of galloping horses of clattering chariots horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear there's a multitude of slain a great number of bodies countless corpses they stumble over the corpses because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot the mistress of sorceries who sells nations through her harlotries and families through her sorceries verse 5 behold i am against you says the lord of hosts i showed you mercy i still look to the time when you will be resurrected but i am against you now says the lord of hosts i will lift your skirts over your face i will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame i will cast abominable filth upon you make you vile and make you a spectacle it shall come to pass that all who look upon you will flee from you and say nineveh is laid waste that great city that no one ever thought could be conquered but who will bemoan her where shall i see comforters for you down to verse 10. she was carried away talking of these nations before she went into captivity her young children were dashed to pieces and that the head of every street the cast that they cast lots for her honorable men and all her great men were bound in chains you nineveh also will be drunk you will be hidden you will seek refuge from the enemy but they won't find it now the history of nineveh it points out in the commentaries is that it was conquered completely in 612 the kingdom of the syria was over conquered by babylon babylon went on to conquer judah as you remember but but assyria was done and that city was completely eliminated and when god says that you will be hidden the city of nineveh really was hidden it was destroyed in 612 a.d do you know when the ruins of nineveh were finally discovered in 1842 some 2500 years later you will be so thoroughly wiped out nineveh that you will be hidden people won't even find your ruins and it wasn't until 2500 years later that people even found the ruins of nineveh god so completely so completely wiped out that city the time for judgment had come they had missed their opportunity their time of their iniquity was complete and god exacted his vengeance on them that's the world and that's the world we live in today and we can talk about nations and we can talk about when does god say the iniquity of this nation is complete any nation i'm not talking about this nation exclusively it's in his time it's when he's ready but we can bring it back home because god works with you and i individually in exactly the same way he's patient and he's merciful he will give us all the opportunities we have to turn back to him to build the house that he's building in us to exactly his specifications he will give us all the time to turn our hearts to him to have our ears unstopped our eyes open that we listen to what he has to say because it will only be those who listen and hear and put into practice in god's life who will be in his kingdom only those he's not going to have people who just say well i kind of knew you he's going to have people who really did what god said he's going to have people who really with their heart have turned to him with all their being as christ said our job is to do our calling is to do during the course of our lifetimes if we go back to ii peter 3 where we looked at the attribute one of the attributes of god here and where he is not slack concerning his promise but he's giving time because he's not willing that any should perish i'll give you the time he says in verse 11 he asks therefore well you know well let me let me you can look at verse 11. let's look at second peter 2 verse 20. that's where he wanted to go right now speaking of a time where there will be false prophets on earth and people will get led away by their own ideas little secret things that they think they learn in the bible and they've got knowledge that no one else has and or get deceived with the lies of someone who is looking to have those have someone follow them it says in verse 20 if after they and they is you and i right if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the lord and savior jesus christ if they're again entangled in them and overcome the latter end is worse for them than the beginning god will give time he'll be patient but when he sees that we really are turning back and we have no intention of turning back to him but we get closer and closer and closer to the world and the old way of doing things the latter end is worse for them than the beginning for it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them he'll give us time but there will come a time of judgment if we don't heed in the book of hebrews chapter 10 after god gives us the admonition to watch out for one another pay attention to one another as we talked about this past wednesday let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good work let's not forsake the assembling of ourselves together but exhort one another and so much more as you see the day approaching and verse 26 of hebrews 10 he says if we sin willfully that means we we are just going to keep going in the direction we're going even though we might hear the message turn back examine look at yourself do the things that god says if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a circle a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries just like israel was devoured just like judah was devoured just like sodom was devoured just like nineveh was devoured so it will be if you and i are guilty of the same thing that god would would caution us against and in verse 20 32. that's a frightful thing it says in verse 31 to fear and fall into the hands of the living god as we appreciate the mercies and the benefits of god we also might want to remember the powerful god that he is the purpose that he has in mind what he has called us to who we are to become and the tools he will give us to do that and if we reject that either willfully by just resisting everything that he says or just or just taking it for granted and strifting along in life just doing what comes easily to us and just sort of drift along eventually we head off into the into the horizon in verse 32 he gives us an admonition recall the former days in which after you were illuminated when god opened your eyes to the truth you endured a great struggle with sufferings you went through the trials you kept the faith you walked on through it partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations maybe your family made fun of you maybe your work made fun of you maybe they challenged you and thought you know it's kind of foolish to be doing this in the 21st century come on get with life partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated remember those days you were able to stand up against those remember those days you wanted you identified with the people of god they became your family for you had compassion on me in my chains the author says i was there but you know what i saw your mercy you were praying for me you understood what i was going through you had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods whatever god sent my way i was willing to do it because my eyes were on him knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven and so the admonition to us as we hear these things as we watch god's patience as we watch god's mercy as we see it in our lives and what we need to develop don't take it for granted don't think that it's tolerance for the way we live our lives continually examine get back as we've said so many times to the way what you were taught in the beginning and don't drift away don't give yourself permission to do things that you know are against god's way therefore he says in verse 35 don't cast away your our confidence is in god that's where it needs to be the fear of god looking to him watching him being patient with him showing mercy to those and not being judgmental with anyone but following him as he leads us

Channel: United Church of God Orlando

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Length: 72min 20sec (4340 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 14 2020