SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: I always like reading up on art.
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate art.
SPEAKER_01: I found this interesting thing in art history about perspective.
SPEAKER_01: It took centuries for artists to perfect this thing called perspective.
SPEAKER_01: That is creating a sense of depth on a flat surface.
SPEAKER_01: Now the verdict is not out as to who perfected perspective.
SPEAKER_01: Some would say it was the Italians of the Florentine Renaissance.
SPEAKER_01: And others would say it was the mid-17th century Dutch artists.
SPEAKER_01: So it's between the Italians and the Dutch.
SPEAKER_01: I know what the Dutch would say.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not Dutch, you're not much.
SPEAKER_01: I know the Norwegians now are bristling because they also made contributions in the world.
SPEAKER_01: But you know, truth be told, the Norwegians made zero contribution to the world of art.
SPEAKER_01: But they've made some great contributions in the world of cuisine.
SPEAKER_01: They, after all, they invented Ludovisk and Lefsa, and we gotta be eternally thankful for them.
SPEAKER_01: But for now, I would say when it comes to art, the patience of the mid-17th century Dutch painters paid off.
SPEAKER_01: There's a picture of Vermir's love letters, and that was like the crowning joy of the Dutch painters to convey the sense of depth and perspective.
SPEAKER_01: The patience paid off.
SPEAKER_01: Patience always pays off.
SPEAKER_01: This week, preparing this message on patience, I realized just how I lack patience.
SPEAKER_01: If we are to become patient, I learned we need to gain biblical perspective on this thing of patience.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to understand patience first before you can exercise patience.
SPEAKER_01: Often we pray for patience.
SPEAKER_01: We ask for more patience.
SPEAKER_01: Christians often come and say, Oh, just a prayer request, I need more patience.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we'll pray that you will have more patience, as if there's degrees of patience.
SPEAKER_01: But I've realized that I've got a very limited perspective on this thing called patience.
SPEAKER_01: From my limited viewpoint in life, it seems like there are all too many detours and delays in life that causes me to become impatient.
SPEAKER_01: Jerry Bridges in his book, Respectable Sin says the following about impatience.
SPEAKER_01: He says, impatience reveals many things, especially when we complain.
SPEAKER_01: When we complain, it says something about the state of our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: It reveals our desire to be in control by desiring others to conform to our expectations.
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
SPEAKER_01: He nails it here.
SPEAKER_01: It reveals our desire to be in control by desiring others to conform to our expectations.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Impatience is just the means by which the sin of control is manifested in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: I never knew that.
SPEAKER_01: That this is the sin of wanting to be in control that manifests in the form of impatience.
SPEAKER_01: Impatience is sin simply because it grows out of an unwillingness to essentially trust God and to exercise faith in Him, Him who causes all things to work together for our good and according to His purposes.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 8 28.
SPEAKER_01: Impatience really is a lack of perspective.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to give us some perspective here on patience by looking at James.
SPEAKER_01: So if you open your Bibles and turn to James, oh, does OwlClicker need batteries?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, there you go.
SPEAKER_01: It works.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's read James chapter 5, and we're gonna look at verses 7 to 11.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read from the English Standard Version and in the pews.
SPEAKER_01: There are copies of that.
SPEAKER_01: James 5, 7 to 11.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and late rains.
SPEAKER_01: Also, be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, the judge is standing at the door.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 10, as an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
SPEAKER_01: This passage is without a doubt speaking of patience.
SPEAKER_01: There are six verbs there related to the concept of patience.
SPEAKER_01: Twice are we commanded there to be patient.
SPEAKER_01: But we cannot just be patient without gaining some perspective.
SPEAKER_01: And this is so if we do this with my hand, it's forward the slide.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we ran out of juice here on the on the clicker.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna just do this every time.
SPEAKER_01: It's not because I'm weird, it's just because we have no power.
SPEAKER_01: Let's see what perspective James gives us on this thing of patience.
SPEAKER_01: In order to understand patience, we need to gain perspective on God's promises, on God's purposes, and on God's personality.
SPEAKER_01: God's promises, God's purposes, and God's personality.
SPEAKER_01: Those are the three things we need to gain perspective on in order to understand patience.
SPEAKER_01: And if we understand patience, then we will be able to exercise it.
SPEAKER_01: But don't think we can exercise it without understanding it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's gain a proper perspective on God's promises.
SPEAKER_01: Firstly, we are promised by God that we have patience.
SPEAKER_01: We've been given it by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It is a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5.22.
SPEAKER_01: Love, joy, peace, patience.
SPEAKER_01: We have it.
SPEAKER_01: There are no degrees of patience.
SPEAKER_01: It's whether we exercise it or not.
SPEAKER_01: We can't be very patient or less patient.
SPEAKER_01: We either patient or impatient.
SPEAKER_01: It is a fruit of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: We have been given it, but now we must exercise it.
SPEAKER_01: It's something promised to the believer.
SPEAKER_01: You have everything pertaining to life and godliness.
SPEAKER_01: Yet we are commanded to exercise patience consistently.
SPEAKER_01: We must remind ourselves that Christ has promised this.
SPEAKER_01: You can be patient because you have my spirit.
SPEAKER_01: We are commanded twice in this passage to be patient.
SPEAKER_01: James writes to his readers in verse 7, he says, therefore, be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Don't laugh.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, be patient.
SPEAKER_01: But he connects that patience with what?
SPEAKER_01: The coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He says it twice, you be patient, strengthen your heart, strengthening your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near or at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Depends which translation you have.
SPEAKER_01: And so the the perspective here is this promise of the Lord's return.
SPEAKER_01: It's connected here with the proximity of the Lord's presence as well.
SPEAKER_01: Let me explain to you.
SPEAKER_01: It says there, be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: There's a sense in which we are told, this is the period of time that you need to exercise patience.
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
SPEAKER_01: When we are in heaven, there is no need for patience.
SPEAKER_01: We will have it, and nothing will be slow.
SPEAKER_01: People will drive faster, I guess.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But then he gives an illustration.
SPEAKER_01: See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains.
SPEAKER_01: What is connected here too with patience is this sense of waiting.
SPEAKER_01: See how the farmer waits.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek word here conveys something about looking outwardly with expectations of a coming result.
SPEAKER_01: For the farmer, it's the promises of precious fruit.
SPEAKER_01: There's something coming your way.
SPEAKER_01: The promise of something good is coming to the farmer, but he has to wait.
SPEAKER_01: And a big component of patience is just waiting for something to happen.
SPEAKER_01: I've learned a lot from you guys who are in the business of farming, and I often ask you guys, so so what's happening on the farm?
SPEAKER_01: You know, you got sugar beets, potatoes, edible beans, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times I hear this.
SPEAKER_01: Just waiting.
SPEAKER_01: You know, a broad smile.
SPEAKER_01: We're just waiting now.
SPEAKER_01: Waiting?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, waiting.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I can't speed up this process.
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's coming.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's growing.
SPEAKER_01: The beets and the potatoes and the beans, they're doing good, but I have to wait.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the essence here.
SPEAKER_01: There's this waiting, but it's not a willy-nitty waiting.
SPEAKER_01: It's waiting for something, and it's waiting for what?
SPEAKER_01: It is waiting for the Lord's return.
SPEAKER_01: Why is it so essential to understand the Lord's return in terms of patience, dear brothers and sisters, is knowing that Jesus is coming to fix things.
SPEAKER_01: In Revelation 21, 5, it says there, he will come to make all things new.
SPEAKER_01: I am making all things new.
SPEAKER_01: He's coming to fix all these things that is hard for you and me.
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna get fixed.
SPEAKER_01: The things that that kind of stirs up the sense of impatience.
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be fixed.
SPEAKER_01: But here's another promise here.
SPEAKER_01: He says there, we need to be patient and wait because of the proximity of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The ESV doesn't convene it so nicely.
SPEAKER_01: It says that the Lord is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: The word there is parousia, the the the nearness of the Lord, the presence and the proximity.
SPEAKER_01: And I do think James is speaking about the presence through the Holy Spirit with those who are faithful saints.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient because God is here.
SPEAKER_01: He's here.
SPEAKER_01: He's coming, but he's here already.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore we can wait.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 130 says, I wait for the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I wait and put my hope in his word.
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing how many times the psalmist speaks about the sense of waiting.
SPEAKER_01: I don't like waiting.
SPEAKER_01: You laugh, Evelyn, but I have you realized that?
SPEAKER_01: I don't like waiting.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't even wait for them to finish the songs.
SPEAKER_01: You're up here.
SPEAKER_01: I want to do the announcements.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, get off the stage.
SPEAKER_01: I've got work to be done here.
SPEAKER_01: How can I soar like an eagle if I fly with turkeys?
SPEAKER_01: I mean.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what we think.
SPEAKER_01: We often think, yes, Jesus is coming.
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna fix things.
SPEAKER_01: And we think that that's never going to come.
SPEAKER_01: No, we need to wait expectantly and eagerly.
SPEAKER_01: He is coming.
SPEAKER_01: The sovereign potentate will come and he will restore.
SPEAKER_01: He will rescue and he will reward for those who patiently waited.
SPEAKER_01: This is what Psalm 37 says.
SPEAKER_01: Be still before the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Stop whining.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he's saying.
SPEAKER_01: And wait patiently for him.
SPEAKER_01: I don't like this.
SPEAKER_01: I don't like waiting, but he says, waiting.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because with waiting comes reward.
SPEAKER_01: Just like the farmer who waits patiently and at the right time he puts in the plow and he starts harvesting, or whatever you do to harvest.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think you use a plow to harvest, do you?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a city guy, but whatever the thing they use to throw out the beets and potatoes, right?
SPEAKER_01: They wait.
SPEAKER_01: They don't go, okay, let's.
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna pull this up.
SPEAKER_01: He waits.
SPEAKER_01: And he will be rewarded.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 9 in Psalm 37.
SPEAKER_01: It says there, for those who hope in the Lord, they will inherit the land.
SPEAKER_01: There is reward for waiting.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is going to fix things.
SPEAKER_01: You can wait or you can rush, but you're not gonna speed up his return.
SPEAKER_01: To be patient, my dear brothers and sisters, really requires that we exercise our faith in the promises of God.
SPEAKER_01: The promises that he will come and he will fix things and repair things, and the promises that he is here with us.
SPEAKER_01: You see, being patient and waiting is not something we can do by sheer willpower.
SPEAKER_01: It's not something we can do by just clenching our teeth and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps and say, okay, I'm gonna wait patiently here now.
SPEAKER_01: You can't do it.
SPEAKER_01: We can't.
SPEAKER_01: We have to strengthen ourselves in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Look at James 5.8.
SPEAKER_01: It's it speaks about that proximity of the Lord, that presence of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You too, be patient.
SPEAKER_01: Strengthen your hearts.
SPEAKER_01: The ESV says, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
SPEAKER_01: We have this promise of Christ's proximity.
SPEAKER_01: He is near.
SPEAKER_01: He is near with us right now through his spirit who indwells us.
SPEAKER_01: What does Jesus say at the end of Matthew's gospel?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Lo, I am.
SPEAKER_01: I'm with you till the end of the age.
SPEAKER_01: So it's not something.
SPEAKER_01: This waiting patiently until the Lord comes and sets things straight, and everything seems to go chaotic here, and we have to exercise patience.
SPEAKER_01: We have this promise of Christ's proximity that he's here, he is already present, and he gives us power, and it's provided through the indwelling of his Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, like Psalm 27, 14 says, wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart.
SPEAKER_01: James is not picking up some new stuff here.
SPEAKER_01: James obviously knows the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: James obviously knows Psalm 27.
SPEAKER_01: Wait until the Lord on the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Wait and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen you.
SPEAKER_01: The ESV says establish.
SPEAKER_01: I like the NASB that says strengthen, because here's a sense in which we are empowered to wait and be patient.
SPEAKER_01: This is what John Piper says.
SPEAKER_01: It says waiting patiently is a decisive act in which we are strengthened, paradoxically, by the weakening of our confidence and trust in ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: What John Piper is saying here is if we want to be strengthened in this sense of being patiently waiting on the Lord, we need to be weakened in our confidence in self.
SPEAKER_01: We need to relinquish control.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what Paul says?
SPEAKER_01: When I'm weak, I am strong.
SPEAKER_01: This is the paradox of all things.
SPEAKER_01: The less we are in control, the less we trust ourselves, the less confidence we have in ourselves, the stronger we are.
SPEAKER_01: Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen you.
SPEAKER_01: Dear brothers and sisters, we have everything for life and godliness.
SPEAKER_01: But often we trust our own instincts too much.
SPEAKER_01: We like being in control, and the longer we stay in that position, the less patient we will be.
SPEAKER_01: But when we are weak, when things seem totally out of control, and we say we can do nothing about this situation, I have to just wait on the Lord, then we will have the strength to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Another perspective on patience is gaining perspective on God's purposes.
SPEAKER_01: Gaining perspective on God's purposes.
SPEAKER_01: And that's in verse 9, and I will read it for us soon.
SPEAKER_01: But think about this.
SPEAKER_01: In order to be patient, we must gain understanding of God's purposes.
SPEAKER_01: You see, often God is busy, and we will have to wait for him to finish his work.
SPEAKER_01: You see, patience requires this right perspective about the Lord's purposes.
SPEAKER_01: God often, very often, uses stubborn people and trying circumstances to accomplish his purposes.
SPEAKER_01: And while he is accomplishing his purposes, he wants us to loosen our confidence in our own.
SPEAKER_01: Abilities and to relinquish control over our lives to Him.
SPEAKER_01: God is always at work.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says in Philippians 2, 13, he says, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
SPEAKER_01: Paul does not seem to indicate there in Philippians 2 that he works and then he doesn't work.
SPEAKER_01: God is always at work.
SPEAKER_01: For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
SPEAKER_01: He is accomplishing his purposes very often, at times that we need to be waiting and waiting patiently because he is busy.
SPEAKER_01: If we have to wait patiently when we are in a rush to do something, we've got to say to ourselves, is God not busy accomplishing his purposes?
SPEAKER_01: You think about this.
SPEAKER_01: When a flight is delayed, when you have to wait in line.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, God tests us as preachers.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm preparing for the sermon.
SPEAKER_01: I come here Wednesday night for the dinner, the Wednesday night suppers that Kayleigh and her team so graciously cooks for us, and here's a long line.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, ah, I have to wait in line now.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how long is this gonna take?
SPEAKER_01: Can we speed up?
SPEAKER_01: I'm a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I can cut the line.
SPEAKER_01: Who knows?
SPEAKER_01: You know?
SPEAKER_01: And then I have to go, God is at work.
SPEAKER_01: God is at work.
SPEAKER_01: And people are chatting there.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, just just don't chat.
SPEAKER_01: Just pay him, move on.
SPEAKER_01: God is at work.
SPEAKER_01: God is accomplishing something there.
SPEAKER_01: That roadblock there is God at work there.
SPEAKER_01: God is at work.
SPEAKER_01: And is at work with you and me, accomplishing his purposes.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, Philippians 2.14 says, do all things without grumbling.
SPEAKER_01: James 5.9 says, Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, the judge is standing right at the door.
SPEAKER_01: James is taking us back to the Old Testament, and I'll show that for you to you in a minute.
SPEAKER_01: But the idea here of complaining in James 5.9 is this sense of sighing.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a sigh of discontent and frustration.
SPEAKER_01: It could be either with people or with circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: But really, what it is, it's warring for control.
SPEAKER_01: Every time we go, it's like I want to be in control of this situation.
SPEAKER_01: I want people to act according to my purposes and not God's purposes.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you the story.
SPEAKER_01: In Numbers 14, 36, there's an account of people and their circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: And it says there in Numbers 14, 36, and the men who Moses sent to spy out the land who returned and made all the congregation what?
SPEAKER_01: Grumble against him.
SPEAKER_01: They brought in a bad report, and it stirred up the people to grumble and complain.
SPEAKER_01: Israel's frustrations at that point was fault finding, complaining, murmuring, murmuring, rumbling, criticism, expressions of displeasure.
SPEAKER_01: But really what it was, it was warring for control.
SPEAKER_01: We do not want to go into the promised land, so let's see how we can manipulate this situation by grumbling and complaining.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the murmuring here in the desert was symptomatic of people who wanted to be in control on every situation, circumstance, and exercise control over every outcome.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the Israelites of old here wanted to manipulate the situation because their patience was wearing thin with Moses and their leaders.
SPEAKER_01: They ran out of patience.
SPEAKER_01: We can no longer put up with this.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it was a thing of timing.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they wanted their expectations and their dreams to be fulfilled right now.
SPEAKER_01: But lo and behold, God never seems to be in a hurry.
SPEAKER_01: Can we just get to the promised land?
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: One day an assistant of a famous Puritan preacher, Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Thomas Brooks, was asked, Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Brooks, why are you pacing around in your office like this?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, The trouble is that I'm in a hurry, but God is not.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the problem.
SPEAKER_01: God is accomplishing his purposes.
SPEAKER_01: And we are in a hurry to accomplish our purposes.
SPEAKER_01: And what's the result?
SPEAKER_01: We grumble and we complain and we manipulate and we express our frustrations.
SPEAKER_01: One preacher said, God is seldom early, never late, but he's always on time.
SPEAKER_01: Seldom early, never late, but always on time.
SPEAKER_01: What is really happening when we as a people, like the Israelites, start complaining and grumbling about a situation?
SPEAKER_01: It's not that they were really grumbling and complaining against their leaders, Moses and Aaron and those guys.
SPEAKER_01: Exodus 16, 8 gives us some clarity on this.
SPEAKER_01: For the Lord hears your grumblings, which you grumble against him.
SPEAKER_01: And what are we, says Moses?
SPEAKER_01: Your grumblings are not against us, but against the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So really, when we grumble and complain, it's not that we don't trust people.
SPEAKER_01: We are really saying, God, here is a no vote of confidence in you.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot trust you.
SPEAKER_01: You are slacking here, God.
SPEAKER_01: You are distracted.
SPEAKER_01: You are looking elsewhere when you should be looking here.
SPEAKER_01: It's really a complaint against God, saying, God, your timeline is skewed.
SPEAKER_01: My timeline says we should have accomplished this already.
SPEAKER_01: Where are you?
SPEAKER_01: One author, Shannon K.
SPEAKER_01: McCoy, wrote the following.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if I've got a quote here, Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Clicker.
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
SPEAKER_01: Is that it?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: This is sweet.
SPEAKER_01: Sinful complaining is to re is trying to rewrite the story God has written.
SPEAKER_01: Sinful complaining is trying to rewrite the story God has written.
SPEAKER_01: We are the characters and God is the author.
SPEAKER_01: Complaining is the symptom of a deep-seated spiritual problem.
SPEAKER_01: It is a failure to trust God and to submit to His will.
SPEAKER_01: When we complain sinfully, we reject God's authority, providence, and sovereignty over our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, in Philippians 2 14, we are commanded to do everything without grumbling.
SPEAKER_01: Wow, I couldn't have stated this better.
SPEAKER_01: She was so accurate in saying that when we complain, we are saying, God, I cannot trust your authority here.
SPEAKER_01: I can't trust your providence here.
SPEAKER_01: And really, I don't think you're sovereign over this situation.
SPEAKER_01: When there is grumbling and disputing amongst God's people, are they not failing, are they not failing to recognize that God may just be at work here?
SPEAKER_01: And we might need to just wait on God to finish His work.
SPEAKER_01: Going down Farga, they were working on that uh on the freeway there forever, it seems.
SPEAKER_01: Right.
SPEAKER_01: And I drove by, I said to my wife, I don't think they're gonna get done before winter.
SPEAKER_01: They they are slacking.
SPEAKER_01: Man, there's like three guys sitting there, and they just looking at this the fields there.
SPEAKER_01: They should work harder.
SPEAKER_01: This is slowing me down going to Fargo.
SPEAKER_01: And lo and behold, I had to wait for them to finish up their work.
SPEAKER_01: And guess what?
SPEAKER_01: It's done.
SPEAKER_01: You can drive to Fargo.
SPEAKER_01: Likewise with God.
SPEAKER_01: God's often, there seems to be an obstacle in the road, but God is at work there.
SPEAKER_01: We gotta trust Him and not complain.
SPEAKER_01: There's always room for expressing our concerns.
SPEAKER_01: Don't, don't, don't hear me say, and don't hear James say that we are to just discount any form of uh criticism or expression of concern.
SPEAKER_01: But 2 Timothy 4 2 gives us the attitude in which it to be done.
SPEAKER_01: In all gentleness and patience.
SPEAKER_01: All gentleness and patience.
SPEAKER_01: And that's actually written to pastors.
SPEAKER_01: That's written for pastors.
SPEAKER_01: Pastors, in all gentleness and patience.
SPEAKER_01: Another thing we need to remind ourselves when there's merciless murmurings, unbridled frustrations, and ungracious criticisms against God's people, we must not forget that James says the judge is standing right at the door.
SPEAKER_01: What happened to Israel?
SPEAKER_01: They were judged for their complaining.
SPEAKER_01: They were judged.
SPEAKER_01: And James is saying, don't forget that we will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Peter 4, 5.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's a God is like, this is serious business.
SPEAKER_01: Don't tell me.
SPEAKER_01: Don't tell me, you know better.
SPEAKER_01: Don't tell me, I don't know what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_01: God will not deal with that.
SPEAKER_01: And grumbling and complaining and merciless frustrations, unbridled criticisms, that may just impugn the intentions of God and malign his character.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why it's very important to also understand not only the promises of God, the purposes of God, but also his personality.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the sweet part, and we'll wrap up with that.
SPEAKER_01: We've got to gain perspective on the Lord's personality.
SPEAKER_01: Really, we we gotta understand God's character.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at his personality, his character.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 10 says there, as an example, brethren, of suffering and patience.
SPEAKER_01: Take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We count those blessed who endured, you have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, i.e., that is, that the Lord is full of compassion and merciful.
SPEAKER_01: Every time that we need to exercise patience, God is revealing himself.
SPEAKER_01: It's the stage in which God reveals himself as merciful and compassionate.
SPEAKER_01: Let me explain this to you.
SPEAKER_01: You see, there's so many things in life that can unsettle us, hardship, circumstances, people, things tend to disrupt our lives all the time.
SPEAKER_01: There seems to be all too many needless delays and mindless detours and disruptions.
SPEAKER_01: But if we don't have a biblical perspective, we can quickly misunderstand not only God's intentions, but his character too.
SPEAKER_01: We can just think at the end of the day, God is just being mean.
SPEAKER_01: An ogre that wants us to just go through a tough life.
SPEAKER_01: But what he's doing is he's preparing to reveal himself to us.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 11 there.
SPEAKER_01: And have seen the outcome.
SPEAKER_01: What does the ESV say?
SPEAKER_01: Is it the purpose?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: The outcome or the purpose.
SPEAKER_01: That Greek word there is telos.
SPEAKER_01: It's a good word, telos.
SPEAKER_01: It's a uh it indicates an end result, a purpose, a fulfillment of something.
SPEAKER_01: And the idea here is a fulfillment of God's plan to reveal Himself as compassionate, merciful, and patient.
SPEAKER_01: So what James is saying is you pay attention to your circumstances that requires you to be patient.
SPEAKER_01: That God is revealing himself as merciful and compassionate.
SPEAKER_01: Every story in the Bible, every story in the Bible, you read and you go, man, this is tough.
SPEAKER_01: You read the life of Joseph, right?
SPEAKER_01: He's like, man, this is tough.
SPEAKER_01: Now he's in jail.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, he's now in jail for something you didn't do, and it's just going on and on and on.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, man, God is terrible.
SPEAKER_01: How can he do this to this guy?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, in the end, you see, what you meant for good, for evil, God made for good.
SPEAKER_01: After all, God is gracious and compassionate.
SPEAKER_01: Every story in the Bible shows the Lord to be patient and compassionate and merciful.
SPEAKER_01: Job's pain was God's plan.
SPEAKER_01: Job's pain was God's plan to show his personality and character, which is gracious and compassionate.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just go to Exodus 34, 6, and I want you to see this with your very own eyes in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: Exodus 34, 6.
SPEAKER_01: When things go upside down and our lives seem to spiral out of control, we can quickly misinterpret God's intentions and we can quickly malign God's character and his personality.
SPEAKER_01: But Exodus 34, 6.
SPEAKER_01: God says there, then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth.
SPEAKER_01: That is a repetitive phrase all through Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: That is who God is.
SPEAKER_01: That is who he is.
SPEAKER_01: He's nothing less than that.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, if you look at other translations, that word slow to anger, what it really means is very, very patient.
SPEAKER_01: He is very, very patient.
unknown: Wow.
SPEAKER_01: So God is merciful, He's gracious, He's compassionate, but above all, very, very patient.
SPEAKER_01: As we look here at this idea of enduring hardships, it's this idea of being patient with circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: The first part of James seems to be speaking of uh the first part of James uh five uh verses uh seven, eight, nine, speaking about patience in terms of patience with people.
SPEAKER_01: The last part seems to be more indicating patience with circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: Just tough circumstance, just being patient.
SPEAKER_01: And as we think of tough circumstances, there is no better example than Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 12, 2 says, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joyset before him endured the cross.
SPEAKER_01: That idea of the character of God to patiently endure.
SPEAKER_01: What did he patiently endure?
SPEAKER_01: The cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
SPEAKER_01: What is Hebrews 12 saying for to us here is that Jesus patiently endured the cross so that he can reveal God to be very, very patient.
SPEAKER_01: If I was writing the story and I send my only begotten son, and they put that my only begotten son on the cross, guess what I would do if I was God.
SPEAKER_01: Done with this.
SPEAKER_01: But the cross reveals the patience of God.
SPEAKER_01: As Christ endured the cross, he kept God's purpose in mind.
SPEAKER_01: He kept God's character in mind that he wanted to display for all the world to know that God is patient, compassionate, and merciful.
SPEAKER_01: God's true character, his personality is one of patience.
SPEAKER_01: Second Peter 3 9 says it too.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
SPEAKER_01: Are you not so very glad that God was patient with you?
SPEAKER_01: I'm so very glad he's patient with me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so very glad that he put up patiently with 29 years of rebellion.
SPEAKER_01: All I did for 29 years of my life was shake my fist at God.
SPEAKER_01: That's patience.
SPEAKER_01: For some it's 50 years, for some it's 60 years, some it's 80 years.
SPEAKER_01: God put up with Israel for 40 years in the wilderness, patient, and yet we cannot be patient with each other for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Are we projecting the personality and character of God in this community?
SPEAKER_01: Are we?
SPEAKER_01: Because He is very, very patient, slow to anger, full of mercy and compassion.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna take a moment here to evaluate and prepare our hearts for communion.
SPEAKER_01: And let's think as uh Whip comes up on the stage here.
SPEAKER_01: Not only towards each other, but how impatient we are often with God.
SPEAKER_01: Let's take a moment and prayerfully consider that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna just pray for us in preparation for the communion.
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, we come to you.
SPEAKER_01: We do praise you for your patience and your graciousness and your mercy.
SPEAKER_01: May God you uh draw us this morning back to the cross, uh, where the perfect patience of God was culminated.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Lord, I pray that we evaluate ourselves and that we do introspective of our relationships with each other and our attitudes towards each other.
SPEAKER_01: And may Lord may we repent before we partake of communion.
SPEAKER_01: I pray this in your wonderful name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.