Long Suffering

The long-suffering of God has been with us since way before we 

were in existence. 

- What is long-suffering, first and foremost?

- Long-suffering is the patient endurance of hardship, provocation, 

or injury without retaliating or giving up hope

- Long-suffering in short is God holding back what we deserve

- And we deserve a lot, if we be honest with ourselves

- We deserve to punished, hated, whooped, and much more

2 Peter 3:9,  

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is 

longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish 

but that all should come to repentance.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Order your steps, he will soothe your mind and remind you that he's in control. And so when I think about the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for me, my soul cries out. Hallelujah. Thank God for saving me. Also encouraged because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And so I got freedom to speak his word, to talk about him, to let everybody know that God is everything. Amen. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, your people, we come to you. Humble. In spirit seeking you with everything that is in us. Sometimes, Lord, we fail in considering you in every situation. But you are such a God. Where you suffer with us. Your graciousness and your peace. Are good to us. That your people call by your name, hear a word on today. That's going to bless them like never before. Thank you for your wisdom and your understanding. Thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy. Thank you, Lord, for victory. You have given it to us. In the name of Jesus, let your people hear what you have to say today. Touch a manservant. Give them what to say and how to say it. What to do and how to do it. Jesus' name we pray. Everybody say, Thank God. Amen. And amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. It's good to be here. Amen. Look at somebody and say, it's good to see you on today. Hallelujah. Tell them it's good. It's good to see you. Amen. It's good to lay eyes on you. Amen. We, amen. These days and these times, we have to make sure that we show love to one another. The way things are going, I don't know when's the next time I'm going to see you. Amen. And you don't know when the next time you're going to see me. Amen. It's only by Lord, the Lord's grace and his mercy that we are able to stand and be reconciled to him and with one another. And so when we come together, amen, it shouldn't be that we come together to gossip or to talk. But we come together to give God glory. Amen. And we come together to show love one to another, amen. And so if that is not the purpose of our getting together, then maybe we need to look at a different reason. Or maybe we don't get together at all because if you didn't come here to praise God, amen, you're in the wrong place at the right time. Amen. Amen. And so we just come here to give God glory. We come here to magnify his name. Amen. First lady is on the men. God bless you, first lady. Hallelujah. I'm thankful for what God is doing in her life. Amen. And God is yet showing himself, amen, everywhere with us. And that uh in the most important place he's showing himself is right here in our mind. And amen. By the renewing of your mind, amen. Mind is renewed every day. And so I thank God. I thank God for what he is doing in my life, amen. As he is doing in your life, amen. I get joy when I see you all blessed, amen. It is a blessing, amen, amen, to see um all of God's people blessed. Amen. Giving honor to um uh elders, ministers, evangelists, deacons, deaconesses, ushers, amen, ministers, singers, and mother's board, and amen, IT, amen, security. Didn't anybody I forget? Anybody? Amen. All right, all right, amen, amen. It's good to see all of God's people, amen. All of the workers in the church, we thank God for you. We had a wonderful meeting yesterday, amen. Marathon meeting. Y'all talk to me, amen. We was in the church for about three hours. Hallelujah, amen. And so we thank God for uh the opportunity to come together. We got some things straight, though. I thank God for that. I thank God. I love our leadership, amen. I love our leadership team. We have a great, amen, group of people the Lord has blessed us with, amen. I want to thank uh the men's department, uh, in particular, Deacon Larry, amen, and a couple other brothers. They got out there. If you notice the ground is getting painted, he's not done yet, but we thank God, amen. You know, it's something to have people in the congregation that can get it done, amen. And so we appreciate that the yard looks good, amen. And so we are thankful, amen. What happened to the volume? There we go. Amen. We thank God for the brothers, amen. All right, let's get to the word, amen. So today is long suffering, am I right? That's the fourth one, amen. But before we get to Galatians 5 and 22, let's run over to Isaiah 48 and 9. I'm gonna ask that you rest on your feet uh with me, amen, as we read the word of God together, amen. You might want to earmark some of these scriptures, amen, so that you can go back and read them for yourself and investigate what's going on in scripture, amen. Isaiah 48 and 9. The Bible says, For my name's sake, I will defer my anger. Somebody should have said, Thank you, Jesus, right there. Yeah, y'all don't start off missing it right there, amen. For my name's sake, I will defer my anger. Ooh, Holy Ghost, you get ready to do something. And for my praise, I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off. Lord, have mercy. Hallelujah. So he's saying, in order for me not to cut you off, I'm not gonna get mad at you. Lord Jesus, hallelujah, amen. Look at 2 Timothy 4 and 2. Look at 2 Timothy 4 and 2. Look what it says. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching. Wow. Amen. So you if you endeavor to preach, to speak, to teach, you gotta be ready whenever. In season and out of season. You gotta convince. Now that word convince carries, that's a weighted, that's a loaded word for me. Because convince lets us know. KK, how you doing? Convince lets us know that not only, in order for me to convince you, it has to be more than the words that come out of my mouth, it has to be the life that I lead before God and before you all. Amen. It's hard for me to convince you if you see me on the corner smoking some weed with a bottle of hennes. Y'all ain't saying that back to me. It's hard for me to convince you if you see me womanizing. Amen. It's hard for me to convince you if you see me doing something contrary to what I'm preaching about. Hallelujah. So that word convince is loaded for me because, in order for me to convince you, it has to be more than just what I say. You're looking at what I do. Dare I say that? If I do something contrary to what I've been preaching, the church will be emptied out. Rebuke. You're not gonna always hear that life is a flowery bed of ease. Some things we do wrong, and you need to hear about it. Instead of jumping from church to church, sit down, get it right. Man, I'm feeling good today. Lord, have mercy. I'm feeling alright today. I'm feeling alright. You hear me pop? I'm feeling alright. Exhort. So after the rebuke, as being an exhortation. Exhort means to let you know that there's hope. Amen. So listen, if you're in the business of litting people, even your household, if you tear them down, you gotta lift them back up. Amen. That's why some of our kids want to get away from y'all. Because you don't do nothing but tear them down. You don't never lift them back up. Amen. So after you get through getting on that case, you gotta give them a hug. You gotta let them know everything's alright. Come in, come in, come in, come in. I love you. Amen. Let me just explain to you why I did what I did. Amen. Boy, y'all got quiet on that. Some of y'all got quiet. Some of y'all got quiet. Some of y'all got quiet on that. Amen. With all long suffering, we're gonna find out what long suffering is today. Amen. And teaching. I have nothing against hooping. Amen. I try to do it every so often myself. But the thing is, is that teaching is what is going to get you through. Amen. Amen. Amen. We are living in a day and time when people are not looking for the hoop. They are looking for good teaching so that they can live a life that is pleasing in God's eyes. Amen. The hoop is cool, amen. But there's nothing like good teaching because you can say, ooh, wee, that touched my soul. That blessed me. That I got convicted. That let me know, amen, that uh I got some work to do. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And so uh let's run over to Galatians. You know what Galatian is, 5 and 22. Amen. Look what it says. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering. It's a fourth one. It gets a little rough with long suffering. You may be seated. The long suffering of God has been with us since way before we were in existence. What is long suffering? Long suffering is patient endurance of hardship, provocation, or injury without retaliating or giving up hope. So when God long suffers with us, he's not giving us what we deserve. He allows us to get to a place where we understand that he's in control. Long suffering, in short, is God holding back what we should be getting. When I began to study this, it touched me because I started having a praise party right in my own chair at home. That we serve a God that suffers with us. Amen. And there's some of us that deserve a lot of punishment. If we be honest with ourselves, you deserve it. You know how you are, you know the things that you've said, you know the things that you've done, you know the places that you've been, you know how you acted up, you know how you said things that you didn't even want to take back. And God, in his infinite mercy, suffered long with you till you came to an understanding that he has better for you than what you are acting like. Amen. In other words, we deserve to be punished. We deserve to be hated, we deserve to be whooped. We deserved much more than what we received. Amen. When I look back over my own personal life, I thank God that He didn't whoop me or punish me right then and there for the things that I was doing. I was doing some things that was out of pocket. I was doing some things that really should have landed me in jail. I was doing some things that I thought I was getting away with, but the camera was looking right at me in the store, amen. And when I look back over my life, I said, my God, how is it that I didn't get caught? How is it that you didn't wager any charges against me? It's because you don't suffer with me and you understood what I was going to be. So you covered my sins. Y'all are talking back to me. Hallelujah! Do we have a God? See, some of y'all trippin', some of y'all trippin', I know you was dirty, I know, Lord Jesus, I know you was dirty, I know you was toe-up. If I was toe up, I know you was toe up. I know you was out there doing some stuff you ain't had no business doing. Waking up in some beds you ain't had no business being in. Drinking some stuff you had no business drinking, living in some places you had no business being in. But God! Look at your neighbor's sake, but God! That's why your kids don't understand why you crazy like you do. Your kids think something, but they don't know. And when you was a child, you were 10 times worse than name one but they don't. They don't understand that you think you bet I was over easy. You ain't saying nothing. I'm trying to tell them you how to go. They think they something y'all have no idea. You have no idea. You have no look at your kids and say, you you have no idea what your mama or your daddy used to be like. I I was told I would fight you just on GP. I used to walk around with a bottle of Vaseline ready to get down at any time. I was doing all such stuff. My God came in and saved my life. Y'all ain't hard, y'all don't know what hard is. We we deserve. We deserve the punishment. We deserve the whooping. We deserved it. But Second Peter three and nine says something to us. Says the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So look, look how good God is. He let you, amen, he long suffered with you because he knew that when you came into the knowledge of him, that you was going to repent for the things that you've done and for the life that you used to leave. Got your answer right there. Amen. That's the reason you did not die. Because he was waiting for you patiently to recognize who he is in your life. See, some of us take that for granted. Thank you, Holy Ghost. That's how much God waits for you to come to your own understanding of who he is. Amen. And his compassion and mercy, because they had made him mad. The first attribute of God mentioned is that he is a compassionate or merciful God. Meaning he truly cares about his people and shows a gentle attitude of concern and mercy toward them. The second thing is that he describes himself as gracious, meaning he does things for people they do not deserve. I should have had about five people jump up and goes beyond expectation to grant genuine kindness and favor to those who may not be worthy of it. When people say I'm blessed and highly favored, that is favor that you are not worthy of. But because he has granted you, my God, more than what you think you're worth, amen. God has gave you some things that you didn't even deserve. He has elevated you and you wasn't even qualified. He has done some things, he has opened up some opportunities where you thought the door was closed, amen. And some of us know how good God is in this way, and still don't come in here and give him some praise. You should be running around for God being compassionate and merciful and gracious towards us. That's another one where I would have jumped up. If I'm sitting out in the seats, I would have jumped up because thank you, Lord, for slowing down your anger towards me. See, some of y'all don't know the anger of God. I've seen God's anger, amen, and I do not want to be a participant of his anger. I've come to the personal conclusion that either he will lay you down or you can recognize him right where you are. I've seen him lay people down that profess to be of God, and they had to recognize God and get up, and God allowed them to get up, and they had to get up apologizing to God. One in the bottom of, I believe his name was Nebuchadnezzar. He thought he was somebody and tried to consider himself equal with God, and God had to send him out in the field and let him eat for seven years like he was an animal. God, how are you walking to a wrapper's mind if you don't give him the just view that he deserves? God is everything. Who you think you are? I'm giving you a praise. Some of y'all now that you know God, you sitting there all pretty and pantsy and handsome and all that, and you smell good and you look good. You wasn't always like that. You was a wretch und you was dirty as the ground. But God saw you, picked you up, brushed you off, and gave you a new stuff. You oh God! If he did it for you, you gotta look at somebody in this room and tell him he did it for me. He did it for me! He picked me up, he cleaned me up, he waited for me, he brought me from the money long way. He loved you when your behavior was less than ideal. He loved you and you was a walking failure. Everything you did was wrong, everything you said was wrong, every place you went was wrong. Because you wasn't in your right mind. Your moral compass was headed wrong direction. And then you come to the word abounding. Now, one of the attributes, but I don't want to skip over it. Abounding means great in covenant. Covenant means relationship. Amen. In other words, since he has a relationship with you, he's not going to forsake you. Again, somebody missed the opportunity to praise him. Where everybody else would give up on you. We serve a God that since you are in relationship with him is not gonna break up with you because you decided to start tripping. God is big enough to carry us when we couldn't carry ourselves. And all he has in return is that everything that happened. Praise the Lord. Everybody that's breathing. Oh God, everybody ought to be able to say Lord. Y'all messing with me this morning. Y'all messing with me this morning, you then if you if you study the Hebrew word translated love, what it does is it signifies long-term dependable loyalty from one member of a covenant relationship to another. What I'm telling you and what I've just told you, is that if you are in covenant relationship with him, then he's not going to leave you. In a world where we, in our culture, in our very culture, one of the founding principles in our culture is that we be loyal to one another. And when people break your heart, you have a tendency to put up walls around yourself saying, I can't trust you, but I know somebody that is loyal to the end of your life. I know somebody that is loyal to the end. I know somebody no matter how inconsistent, unreliable we have been, we still in a relationship with God, and he is not like us. That's what long suffering is. Goodness and truth speak directly to his character. In other words, God has a lot of goodness and truth more than his wrath. Were you one of them kids that your mama or your daddy was always fussing at you? No matter what you did, they whoop you on GP. They knew you did something wrong as soon as you walked. Come here, boy, come here, girl. I know you was out there doing something you had no business doing. Did you have them parents that would check your room, amen, all hours of the night? They take the hinges off the door because they knew that you was had a probability of you trying to sneak out the house, amen. And when you snuck out, you thought you was getting away with something. And when you came in the house, they were sitting right there. Mama was in that moo moo, daddy was in his long coat, sitting right there, talking about what you doing. And listen to this, watch this. Your parents, you thought you was gonna get a whooping, and you thought you was worth, and you thought what you did was worth you getting a whooping, but all they told you is out there ain't no good. And if you go out there again, I'm gonna lock these doors and these windows, and you ain't gonna be able to come back in. You thought you was getting a whooping, but all they give you was some good advice. They gave you grace. And so we ought to remain in a state of praise and worship. Just on this verse about his character, about who he is, that he can always be relied on to remain completely faithful to his promises to his people. That what he said he was going to do, he's going to do. Now, as we get back to long suffering, it is this uh revelation that occurs throughout divine patience and mercy towards sinners. This aspect of God's character becomes even more vivid when we remember that all sin is a personal offense against a personal God. That when you lead a life of sin, you're not just sinning uh against God. That's per He takes that personal, amen. And just like some of us, if somebody do you wrong, you take that personal, amen, and you make a decision based off of their actions. I'm so glad that God did not forsake me based on my actions, amen, when I wasn't considering uh Him. It is with this understanding shared among those of us, those of us, those of us, those of us, those of us who have reconciled with God through Jesus Christ, that we truly show appreciation uh for his long-suffering towards us. You ought to appreciate God, amen. And every morning uh that you wake up out of your bed, you ought to be able to give God some glory because uh he long-suffered with you. Uh-huh. He's a long-suffering uh God. You ought to tell God thank you before anything else comes out of your mouth. You ought to tell God thank you, and I'm sorry for doing something that was outside of your will. Amen. When I get down on my knees, the first thing I say is, good morning, my heavenly father. Good morning, Jesus Christ, good morning, uh Holy Ghost, thank you for saving me. Thank you for keeping me, thank you for blessing me, thank you. Look at First Timothy one and sixteen. However, for this reason, I obtained mercy and in me for Jesus Christ. Those who are going to believe on him for everlastingly. In other words, you can count on him. That's his pattern. That's how Jesus get down, he operates by long suffering with us on a continual basis. The message Bible says that same scripture like this someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy, and now he shows me off evidence of his endless patience to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever. In other words, you are the pitcher, you are the showpiece of God's mercy and patience. You ought to look at somebody and say, I'm looking me. I'm God's showpiece. I'm I'm his poster child for long suffering, amen. Hallelujah. You ought to look, you ought to tell him, look at me, baby, look at me, brother. I'm what it looks like, amen, for God to long suffer with me, amen. I done been through it, I done had some trials and some tribulations. I done had some uptimes, I done had some downtimes. I done been around the block. I've done some things that I'm not proud of. I am now the poster child since I went through the blood wash car wash. And he showed me how good he is. I've been through some things because he washed me from the top of my head to the shoes of my feet. I'm what God looks like. Hallelujah! I am a picture of his long suffering. A little more, and I'm I'll be finished. I got about fourteen minutes. I got my little timer up here. But they're still many women. The reason he has not given up on you is because he's waiting for you to come to an understanding that you need him more than life itself. Hallelujah. Look at Romans 2 and 4. Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. A lot of us look at God for the blessings. The blessing is, the biggest blessing is you ain't dead because of your sin. And he didn't take you out because of how you was living. Y'all ain't saying nothing back to me. So remember this, brothers and sisters. His long suffering is patience with a purpose. God's patience is extremely strong and deliberate. It's not just about waiting until we get it right. It's about being purposeful. In other words, God sees something in you that he's waiting on you, and he has a purpose on waiting you out till you come to an understanding that it's through him that you live, that you move, that you have your very being. Amen. Which means, watch this. This is deep right here. That means, if we understand it like that, that his waiting on us is voluntary. He don't have to wait on us. He don't have to long suffer with us. He can literally just turn his back on us and say, Them wretches is undone. Let them have whatever happened, happen. But he long suffers with us because he's waiting on us to recognize that we need him. It's voluntary on his part. Have you ever done something for somebody you didn't tell them? But in your own mind you say, I don't have to do this, but I do it because I love you. Even grown children have a tendency to think that you still owe them something after the age of 18. I love my grown children, but baby, brother, don't get it twisted. Once you turn 18, and I decide to lock my door and change the locks. Amen. And lock the windows, nail the windows shut. Amen. You want I've done my legal job for you. But because I love you, you still in my house. Because I love you. I don't want to see you out there going through. Because I love you, I don't want to see nothing happen to you. So, yes, I'm gonna take care of you. That's the same thing God does for us. I got purpose for you. Me waiting on you is purposeful. It's not abstract, it's not, it's not just for nothing. It's not just for you to feel good, it's for you to understand that I got something for you to do. It's voluntary. Say it again, Pastor. Thank you. I will. It's voluntary. But he does it because love suffers long in his kind. So those of us who God has long suffered with, we should be the ones showing long suffering towards others. Long suffering, brothers and sisters, is part of the heart of God. The fruit of the Spirit is a result of our being partakers of the divine nature, of his divine nature, which only grows when we live in communion with him. What this means is that if God can bear people, so can I. I don't know how you say you saved and your patience is short, and your long suffering is short. Amen. Look at Colossians 1 and 11, strengthen with all might according to his glorious power for all patience and long suffering with joy. Long suffering with joy. Long suffering with joy. There are two things, brothers and sisters, that jump out to me when I look at that scripture. The purpose of this, uh, of this power is to be able to suffer long. It's in a place, watch this, watch this. That scripture lets us know that we might think that power is simply for doing miracles and blessing other folk and being powerful in the word and in ministry, but what if that power was for long suffering? What if that power was for you to suffer long with people, not to give up on them? What if that power was to help bring somebody through until they came through? Not to leave them halfway in the middle of the road. But what if that power gives you the ability to listen to people and what they're going through and let them know that everything is going to be alright? We got preachers, they are powerful in the pulpit, but don't have no long suffering with God's people. Long suffering means that you're able to sit there and deal with people how they are. Y'all ain't saying that back to it. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And you sit up and you listen to them and work with them and deal with them and work with them and deal with them. Even if they tell you the same story four times in a row, you work with them and deal with them, you work with them and deal with them, you work with them and deal with them, and you pray for them and you pray with them, and they call you on the phone and you answer the call. Amen. You never get tired of talking about what God is doing in their life. Why? Because you're long-suffering with them. God did the same thing to us, He did the same thing for us when we was down in our sin and we were talking about how God, if you save me, I promise I won't do it again. And the next day you was doing that mess again. God was long suffering with you where He didn't kill you right there in the middle of your sin. So how is it that we are short on long suffering with other people who have the same problems we have? Who have been through the same things that we have? If you got power, then you got long-suffering power. You able. Amen. It's something that cannot be taken away from you. So while you're long suffering, you got joy. That's why Galatians 5.22 says, uh, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, and peace. Those are the first things that you gotta have because when you get the long suffering, you still got to have joy. When you get to long suffering, you still got to love. When you get the long suffering, you still got to have your peace about you. You can't let long suffering steal your peace. And I thank God that in the midst of trials and tribulations, that I'm able to give God glory because He has uh in put on the inside of me the ability to long suffer, amen, and still have a smile on my face. He lets me know that everything is going to be alright, amen. And that's why I praise him like I do, amen. Because sometimes I don't understand why I have to long suffer, but I know that if I make it through it, everything is going to be alright. And I might help somebody else come out of this situation, and so I long suffer because he long suffers with me. When I think of his goodness and all that he's done for me, my soul cries out, hallelujah! Thank God for long-suffering with me. You ought to give him some praise, you ought to give him some honor, you ought to give him some glory because God is God, and beside him there is none other. That you went to sleep one day and that problem is still there the next day. And it was like that for the last three months, it was like that for the last six months, it's like that for the last year. Has anybody been going through something and you still got your joy? It's not for nothing that you are going through something, it's to strengthen you so that you can long suffer with somebody else. You can't long suffer with nobody if you ain't been through nothing.

unknown 49:24

Come on, preacher.

SPEAKER_01 49:32

Look at him and tell them, say, uh, if you knew what I've been through. Some of y'all been molested, some of y'all been taken advantage of, some of y'all been left for dead, some of y'all was raised crazy, some of y'all had some stuff in your life that you wouldn't share with nobody. But baby, you here, you here. Slap hot fire with three to four people, tell them you here now, you here now, you might as well praise God. You here now, you didn't suffer through it, you didn't came through it, you here now. You win! You win! You got the victory! The devil tried to kill you, but you came out on the other side! You made it! Tap yourself on the shoulder and say, I made it. With all the mess you've been through, you made it. With all the junk you've been through, you made it. You made it. I made it. I made it through. I done came too far to go back. I made it. See, that's the praise party you have in your car when nobody else with you. That's why I'm so amazed at James. I remember James before he got married. Oh, y'all ain't saying nothing to me. I knew James. Oh yeah. It ain't your business, but I knew James. And to see him where he is now. I need about five people that can praise me for James Butler. I need about five people that can give God some glory for what God has done in his life. I knew KK when she first came to the church. I know her testimony. Let me just put it to you like this. KK is a gangster. She is not to be toyed with. She got hard to carry on some stuff that some of y'all ain't never thought about. But look what God has done.

SPEAKER_00 53:02

Look what the Lord has done.

SPEAKER_01 53:14

Oh, I got some more. I can talk about Mickey. I can talk about Sister Elliott. I can talk about Deacon Butler. Talk about Nardella. All of them used to be someplace. Until the Lord got hold of them. And when the Lord got hold of them, brought them to into their mind. So don't tell me that we don't serve a long-suffering God. All of us got a story of some stuff that people don't know about. And you working hard to not let it out. It ain't you. It's the Lord that has thrown your sins into a sea of forgiveness. He has given you another opportunity. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When we think about how good God is and how he long suffers with us, God has done some things for us. I can talk to you about Conity and some of the things he's been through. Him and his brother. Have you ever heard their testimony? It's deep. Amen. But we serve a God that don't look at your present condition. He looks at where you're going to be. And he long suffers with you until you come to the understanding. That's why the scripture says, uh uh renew, have a renewed mind. Amen. Amen. Be holy and acceptable in his sight. That's why it tells us that. Let your mind be renewed. That's what that's for. Because in your old mind you was crazy. In your own mind, you was out there. But God had to seize you. Some of y'all had to grab you by your neck. Listen, everybody.