Continuance in Patience

Afternoon, Brethren. During that hymn when we were talking about weak and base things, I looked over to my wife and smiled and said something nice and sent the wrong signal, I think. Timing is everything, I guess. She wasn’t upset. I’m just having a good time. We’re going to start today with a thought experiment. Go through a mental exercise and really try to make this live. To the degree to which you can make it live, the more impactful it will be.

Imagine being born in the year ten seventy-five. So a long time ago, the year ten seventy-five. A bit around the time of the Middle Ages, ten seventy-five. When you turn twenty-one years old, the crusades begin. When you turn one hundred and forty, we’re talking about a very long lifespan here. In the year twelve fifteen, the Magna Carta would be written, the document that kind of forms the foundation of a lot of documents on which Western civilizations are built, kind of stripping the rights away from that monarchy and giving it to the people.

When you turned a hundred and eighty-three years old, the Mongols would’ve entered the Middle East and sacked Baghdad. This is a long life. At a hundred and ninety-six, Marco Polo would’ve begun traveling east. At two hundred and seventy-two, you know, we think of living through COVID, you’d have lived through the Black Death, which claimed a third of the lives of Europeans. Make this real. Imagine you were alive for this long.

At age two hundred and sixty-two, you’d have seen the start of the Hundred Years War, and it would’ve, of course, overlapped the Black Death there. At age three hundred and seventy-eight, you’d witnessed the fall of Constantinople. At age four hundred and seventeen, you would’ve heard about Columbus sailing to the New World and discovering the Americas. A rich, long life. Emphasis on “long.” At age four hundred and forty-two, the Protestant Reformation would’ve begun. At four sixty-eight, it would’ve become widespread belief that the earth circles the sun as opposed to the opposite. At five hundred and thirty-two, you’d have heard about Jamestown, the first permanent colony in America.

Imagine being alive this long. Imagine, as a Christian, having to survive this long. If we can stir that into the mix. At age six hundred and twelve, Newton would’ve started to make some of his discoveries known. At seven hundred and one, you’d witness the American Revolution. Age seven hundred and fourteen, the French Revolution. You’d see Napoleon become the emperor. You’d see the American Civil War. You’d see World War I. In nineteen fourteen, you’d witness and live through the Great Depression, World War II, the moon landing, and on and on. In twenty-twenty, you’d see COVID break out. And then five years later would bring you to the present time.

Imagine living a life that spanned centuries, the thoughts that would go through your mind, the wait for the Kingdom. Because all God’s servants have been waiting for the Kingdom. Turn to Genesis chapter nine. Genesis chapter nine. I’d invite you to go through an exercise like that maybe in your private time. Think through what it would’ve been like to be alive for that long. Genesis chapter nine, verse twenty-nine, “And all the days of Noah,” Genesis nine, twenty-nine, “were nine hundred and fifty years and he died.” Ten seventy-five to twenty twenty-five is nine hundred and fifty years. Now, of course, Noah was alive much earlier in the timeline, but that is representative of his lifespan span. An incredibly long life.

Now, Noah possessed a certain trait. In fact, all God’s great servants possessed a certain trait, and it’s a trait that we have to possess if we’re going to make it, and that trait is patience. Patience. Imagine having to wait that long. You know, it’s a real milestone if you reach ninety-five in this life. Few Brethren alive today are ninety-five. I don’t know off the top of my head of anyone that age or older, but imagine having to endure ten times that long. How important would patience be? How important is patience? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. Patience.

We’ll look at it through several lenses. The first one we’ll see is that patience is very much a part of God’s nature. We’re seeking to be like God, we’re His sons, we’re the daughters. We want to be in His family one day. We want to be like Him, but He is a very, very patient being himself. Exodus chapter thirty-four. Exodus thirty-four.

Imagine talking to somebody who’s nine hundred and fifty years old. Wow. What did you think of COVID? Well, I lived through the Black Death. I mean, it really puts things in perspective when you’ve been around for centuries.

Exodus thirty-four in verse one, “And the Lord said to Moses...” patience is part of God’s nature. “The Lord said to Moses…” after he destroyed arguably the most important document ever given to mankind, the Ten Commandments. This is the setting here. Moses had already destroyed the first copy with, you could say, good reason. He was upset with the Israelites, and he lost his temper and broke this precious document that God had given to mankind.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Hew thee two tables of stone like the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which you broke.’” He added that part in, reminding Moses you broke them. “And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with you, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before the mount.” It was to be a private meeting.

“And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God,’” this is God proclaiming His own name, this is God explaining to Moses His nature in, of course, an abbreviated format. You’d need far longer than a few verses or paragraphs to describe God’s nature. But this is how God summarizes it.

“…Descended, stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering.” That word in Hebrew comes from two words, long in the nose or nostril, hence the face. Also, from rapid breathing, passion, ire. So long to anger, as in He doesn’t get angry too fast. “‘And abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and fourth generation.’

And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. And he said, ‘If now I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray you, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’” God introduced Himself as a God of long-suffering, as a God of patience, as a God willing to forgive, as a merciful and gracious God, as a God who could see a human being destroy the Ten Commandments in anger because he witnessed the people he delivered from Egypt worshiping a false god in a golden calf and still allow them all to survive.

This is a very, is a very patient God. It’s at the core of His nature. It’s part of why He introduced Himself as a long-suffering God. Numbers chapter thirteen. Numbers thirteen. Actually, Numbers fourteen. In Numbers thirteen, the spies had just brought back that evil report from the land of Canaan about the giants. We don’t want to go over there, we’ll be consumed by these giants. And then we come to Chapter fourteen. “And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.”

Extremely disheartened by the report that the spies brought back, and they chose to believe the evil report of the fearful spies rather than the good report by a Joshua and, I believe, Caleb. “And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them, ‘Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would God that we had died in this wilderness!’”

It’s better that we died in Egypt or here than to cross over and be subjugated or attacked by these giants. “And wherefore the Lord has brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be prey? Were it not better for us to return to Egypt?” What an ungrateful attitude. “And they said one to another, ‘Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.’” Wow, all that deliverance, and they want to go back. Amazing.

“Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: and they spoke unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, ‘The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.’” God, who is merciful, who’s gentle to us, who’s good to us is giving us a wonderful land to go to.

“If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey. Only rebel not you against the Lord, neither fear you the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.” They understood that with God as their ally, that with God as the guarantor of their success, that God who would lead them to the promised land wouldn’t abandon them there, He’d see them through to the end. He’d give them that land flowing with milk and honey just as He’d promised. They understood that. “But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.” That was their reaction, not, oh, you know what, that’s a good point. No, they wanted to kill the men who brought the good report that would please God.

And you might see why God would be angry in this situation, we’ll read. But patient at the same time. “All the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shown among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a greater nation and mightier than they.’”

Now, if Moses was an opportunistic man, he’d have taken God up on this. Wipe them all out and make me the patriarch of Israel going forward. But that’s not what Moses said. Not what he said at all. “And Moses said unto the Lord, ‘The Egyptians shall hear it, (for you brought up this people in your might from among them;),’” the very Egyptians that they wanted to return to, “‘And they will tell it to the inhabitants of the land: for they have heard that you Lord are among this people, that you Lord are seen face to face, and that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

Now if you shall kill all this people as one man,’” God, of course, had that ability, “‘then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, “Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness.” And now, I beseech you, let the power of my lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying...’” Now, here’s Moses putting God’s words back to Him. Do according to what you described your nature to be, God. You said, “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.”

God, I remember you told me you’re a patient God. You’re willing to bear long with us. You’re a long-suffering God. You’re a good God. He respectfully reminded God of His own words that we read, “Pardon, I beseech you, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your mercy, and as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” You’ve put up with us this long, please do it a little bit longer. In verse twenty, “And the Lord said, ‘I have pardoned according to your word.’” We could add, because I’m a patient God. I’m a long-suffering God.

Now, God isn’t merely patient in the traditional sense. He’s not merely patient in the sense that we can go and find accounts like this and many others that are similar where He exercised mercy, where He was patient, where He exercised long-suffering, where He didn’t mete out punishment when it was deserved. He’s not just patient in the way that we can read from these various accounts. We just read two of them. We think of Him as the Lord God, the Almighty God, the Holy One, the Healer, the Master. Whatever words come to mind, the Bible is filled with titles of God. But turn to Romans fifteen. Our Father. What else is He called? Romans fifteen, verse one, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” Look out for one another. “Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. “For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, ‘The reproaches of them that reproached you fell on me.’ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

We’ll come back to that later, but what we’ll focus on right now is verse five. “Now the God of patience...” cheerful endurance or constancy in the Greek. “The God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive you one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God.” God is called not just the Father, not just the Lord of hosts, not just the Holy One, whatever are His many titles. He’s called the God of patience.

We serve the God of patience. This trait is all-important. It’s all-important. Could Noah have survived as a Christian for nine hundred and fifty years without patience? Could we, if we were born in the year ten seventy-five have made it this far without patience? Of course not. If we think nine hundred and fifty years is long, none of us will ever live that in a physical sense. What about eternity? Would you not need to be a God of patience? What about dealing with all of Israel’s problems just in the short time that mankind has been on earth? Would you not need to be a God of patience?

What about dealing with just our problems? We each have our own set of problems, hopefully growing and overcoming each of them, but problems pass, problems we still battle with. Aren’t we thankful we serve a God of patience? It is His very nature. Galatians chapter five. We often talk about how God doesn’t just have love. God is love, it says in the scriptures, and the reason God is love is because His Spirit is founded on love. It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. But of course, there are nine fruits of the Spirit.

Galatians five in verse twenty-two, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering” meaning longanimity that is forbearance or fortitude, translated long-suffering or patience, part of God’s essence is patience, “gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit,” if we’re operating according to these fruits, including patience, including long-suffering, “let us also walk in the Spirit. Let’s not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another,” and so on and so forth.

It’s said that that trait, that character trait of patience is at the very core of the God we serve, the God of patience. And it has to be at the core of who we are, Brethren. We’re seeking to be like Him in every way. It has to be at the very fundament of who we are as individuals, as Christians. So much so that the apostle James says this, James chapter one.

There is no way Noah could have survived nine hundred and fifty years without patience. There is no way you or I by some quirk of nature or... There’s no one in here who’s nine hundred and fifty years old. I don’t think so. But if you or I, by some quirk of nature, were nine hundred and fifty going on a thousand, there’s no way we could survive this long without patience. It’s hard to survive decades, even years without patience.

James chapter one, verse two, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.” That’s a spiritually-minded perspective on trials, on difficult situations, counting it all joy. Very difficult to do. I don’t think any of us has mastered that. “Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.” And what does patience yield?

“But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” It’s a cycle. Without trials, we can’t build patience. And without exercising patience over an extended period of time, we can’t be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Romans chapter five, here’s what Paul says. It’s one thing to believe God, it’s another thing to believe God and stick with it through thick and thin, through these trials, through divers temptations, to maintain, to endure, to be patient regardless of circumstance.

Romans five, verse one, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations: knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” which involves of course patience, long-suffering, “which is given to us.” Patience is what produces the character that we need to enter the family of the God of patience.

First Peter chapter five, First Peter five. Verse ten, “But the God of all grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while,” after that you’ve exercised patience for a while, after that you’ve endured some things, we could say, “make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you.”

The Bible greats were a study in patience. At this point we’re going to look at some of them. They were examples, great examples of patience. Some good examples, some not-so-good examples. But God gave us their examples to learn from. We think back to Noah. We won’t go in great depth with him, but think about him waiting for his instructions prior to building the Ark, dwelling in that society where he kind of stood out because he was a good man but was surrounded by wickedness.

Imagine, year after year, decade after decade, century after century witnessing that. I don’t think he had Shem, Ham, and Japheth until around age five hundred, if I’m remembering correctly. Imagine seeing all of that. It will wear you down, wear you down if you weren’t exercising patience. And then he’s given this instruction to build the Ark, this amazing vessel that God used to preserve humanity through Noah’s family. And he, for a long period of time, was viewed as a crackpot while he’s building this boat on dry land. Mocked, ridiculed. Taken a lot of patience to stick with that. He didn’t just give up and perish with everyone else in the flood. Oh, he endured. He suffered long. He built it.

And then after the flood actually came, he and his family had to remain on this boat for another year or so before even being able to leave it. Just a long period of time to be living amongst sinners in a way that vexed him. I’m sure just as Lot lived amongst sinners and it vexed him. Living amongst sinners, having to do something strange about it, then having to remain on the vessel, coming off, having to repopulate earth, you know, just your next run-of-the-mill task. But he at that point had to live another three hundred years to reach that nine hundred and fifty. It can be hard to wait for things in life.

We’re not waiting to get off of the Ark, so to speak. Maybe we’re waiting for a relationship or a change in difficult circumstances. Or we’re all waiting for the ultimate prize, and that is salvation. And it’s difficult to wait at times. And sometimes our wait is longer than we anticipated, but it doesn’t make us stop waiting for it. On the contrary, it’s obviously closer just by virtue of the passing of time.

Hebrews chapter twelve. We often focus on chapter eleven, the faith chapter, as it’s called. Hebrews chapter twelve, we’ll go to right after chapter eleven. Let’s see how Paul summarizes what was just said in that faith chapter. Twelve, one, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let’s lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race that is set before us.”

The only way to survive is running with patience. If anyone’s done any amount of running, if you’re running a race and you don’t pace yourself, you don’t run with patience, you don’t leave enough in the tank to finish, you won’t win. You might even collapse. Run with patience the race set before us.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” He had patience because He saw the end goal. He was moving toward something that was very clear in His mind. He wasn’t going to let anything derail Him in pursuit of that goal. So we are to run with patience just as those, that great cloud of witnesses before us, ran their race with patience. So there’s a lot we can learn from these men and women whose many biographies God recorded for us in the Bible.

Think of Abraham. We think of him as the father of the faithful. Abraham. Genesis chapter twelve. Maybe a better way to say it would be we think of the faith of Abraham. He was willing to just leave everything behind and embark on a new journey, simply obeyed God. Genesis chapter twelve, “And the Lord said to Abram,” at the time, his name wasn’t changed yet. Genesis twelve, one, “...said to Abram, ‘Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, unto a land that I will show you: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curse you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.’”

Without any questions recorded, that was an awesome offer but without any questions or, what about this? What about that? It simply says, “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.” That’s what I want to focus on right now, what we want to focus on, seventy-five years old when he left Haran, and he, of course, was promised that He would bless the families of the earth. Meaning he’s going to have to have children.

At this point, we know he doesn’t have any children. He doesn’t have an heir, he doesn’t have a seed yet. Being 75 years old, of course, his wife, Sarah, many years hadn’t yet had children, so she was probably known to be barren at this point. If I’m forgetting something, I don’t think I am, but I think it’s safe speculation that it’s pretty much a conclusion in their mind that they wouldn’t have children. But here God is telling Abraham He would bless nations through him, through his seed, and he’s 75 years old at this time.

Abraham and Sarah are probably thinking, “Wonderful.” They probably wanted children all their lives. “Wonderful, we’re finally going to receive a child from God,” and not only a child but a child that evidently is going to be extremely consequential in the course of posterity, in the course of human events, in the course of prophecy, we might say. So, a year passed, and no child. Two years, no child. Three years, no child. Four years, no child. Five, six, seven years, no child. Eight years, no child. And you’ve got to be wondering, if we were to put ourselves in Abraham and Sarah’s shoes, “Wow, we’re really getting up here in age and God promised this but still no child.”

They were probably thinking, “Okay, we’ll leave town and by nine months from now we’ll have this promised seed that we’ll be the father of great civilizations.” Nine years, no. Ten years, no. Eleven years. Turn to Genesis sixteen. Genesis sixteen. Still no child. What’s taking so long? Growing impatient. We will pick up in verse sixteen and then rewind to the beginning of the chapter.

Here we have Abraham as, verse sixteen, chapter sixteen, sixteen, “...fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.” So, here he’s eighty-six. Eleven years had passed and still no child through Sarah, so they took matters into their own hands and Abraham impregnated Hagar, and Ishmael was the result. And this great rivalry we still see to this very day is here. And Ishmael became a great people. It was part of God’s plan. He allowed it. But what trouble it produced. What difficulty it produced. And what led up to Abraham and Hagar producing Ishmael. Back to verse one, Genesis sixteen, one. “Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children.”

It had been eleven years since this promise was made and still nothing. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. “And Sarai said unto Abram, ‘Behold now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing.’” She was impatient. Well, I guess we’re going to have to wait longer. No, he’s restrained me from bearing. He’s not letting me have this child that we were promised.

We don’t know how good or bad her attitude was or how distraught she was. But at the end of the day, she didn’t believe the child was coming. Or she wanted it on her timeline. She wasn’t exercising patience. Eleven years had passed. That’s a long time. A lot of us haven’t even been in God’s way for eleven years. Eleven years. “And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.”

Automatically started to cause problems, because they did it on their own terms. They tried to skirt God’s timing. They didn’t exercise the patience. And already we see trouble brewing. “And Sarai said unto Abram, ‘My wrong be upon you: I have given my maid into your bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and you.’”

That’s one way to cause marital strife, is to allow your husband to go impregnate someone else because you don’t have a child yet. I mean, it’s a staggering story. And yet, these are Bible greats here. “But Abram said unto Sarai, ‘Behold, your maid is in your hand; do to her face as it pleases you.’ And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain of the way to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where do you come from and where do you go?’ And she said, ‘I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.’ And the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.’ And the angel of the Lord said unto her, ‘I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.” A great nation came from Ishmael also. “And the angel of the Lord said unto her, ‘Behold, you are with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael; because the Lord has heard your affliction.’”

This woman was put in a very difficult spot. And God blessed her too. “‘And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.’ And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her, ‘You God see me, for she said, ‘Have I also here looked after him that sees me?’ Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. And,” again, “Abram was fourscore and six years old,” eighty-six, “when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abraham.”

So they took matters into their own hands after growing impatient after an eleven-year wait. We might say, humanly speaking, I mean, it’s eleven years. That’s a long time to wait for anything. Eleven years. A lot longer than they were expecting. So now another fourteen years pass, we’re going to see. Chapter twenty-one. “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” We’ll return to that phrase in a second. “And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son was born unto him.” He had to wait twenty years for God to fulfill this promise. He had to exercise patience for God to fulfill that promise. And when he didn’t exercise patience, things went badly for him.

But over and over and over again, God records stories of great servants in the past having to wait decades, even centuries for fulfillments of promises. He wants to see, “Will they be patient through thick and thin?” Abraham was going to be entrusted with a lot. What will he do? Will he give up or will he wait a quarter of a century? Who knows? Maybe God would’ve given them Isaac sooner had their attitude been right or had they not taken that left turn with Ishmael. We don’t know. Maybe it was always God’s intent to wait twenty-five years.

Romans chapter four. But God did it on His time... Actually, before we go to Romans twenty-four, God did it on His time, not on Abraham’s time, not on Sarah’s time. He did it on His own timeline. Verse two there, “At the set time of which God had spoken to him.” He did it when it pleased Him, when it fit His plan, not when it was convenient for Abraham or Sarah or fulfilled their longing. Of course, He wanted to give that good and perfect gift to them, but He knew what was best. He did it on His timeline, just like He gives us what we need on His timeline and we need to be patient for it as difficult as it may be.

Romans chapter four. Verse one, “What shall we say then that Abraham our father,” here’s Paul’s look at the situation, “as pertaining to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he has whereof to glory, but not before God.” In other words, it wasn’t Abraham’s works that justified him. “For what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” It’s Abraham’s faith that was counted unto him for righteousness.

But we could add he didn’t just believe God for a minute. He didn’t just believe God for a year or ten years. Just in the narrow application with Isaac, we could add he believed God for twenty-five years. He was patient for twenty-five years, although he didn’t do it perfectly which who of us is perfect? Hopefully we don’t take that dramatic left turn in a situation like that, but he didn’t do it perfectly, but he was patient. He believed God, not for a moment, but for twenty-five years and beyond.

Of course, he lived another, I think, twenty years after that and endured more trial with Isaac. Thought he would have to potentially lose his son in the physical sense. Was willing to sacrifice him. Had really learned certain hard lessons by that point. Willing to act in full faith, but faith isn’t just a flash in the pan. Believing God isn’t just a flash in the pan. It really manifests itself when we have to develop a track record of it. When we have to develop a lifetime of it. When no matter the trial that comes, we’re not willing to throw in the towel to give it up, to give up the fight.

Verse sixteen, same chapter here. “Therefore, it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations.” How difficult would it have been if Abraham endured that for six months? No, God gives us the timeline of his life to show he endured for decades. He wasn’t willing to give up.

“According to that which was spoken, so shall your seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded, that what He had promised, He was also able to perform. And therefore, it was imputed to Him for righteousness.”

So we get a window into Abraham’s thinking during those twenty-five years. He believed God was going to do it. Maybe he fell prey to pressure or human emotions or whatever the circumstances were, we just get a little thumbnail of it, but he ultimately believed God. He knew God would fulfill that promise He made to him as a seventy-five-year-old man and he wasn’t surprised when at age one hundred he received that son.

Another description of Paul, same thing. Hebrew six. And this is the crux of it. Last passage we’ll look at for Abraham. This is the crux of it. How did Paul summarize Abraham’s trial there? Hebrews six and verse thirteen, “For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself, saying, Surely I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. And so, after he had patiently endured,” after Abraham exercised long suffering, great patience, years of patience, “...after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.” Abraham was a wonderful example of faith, but very much tied to that, inseparable from that is patience, endurance, exercising faith no matter what. Keeping on keeping on as the saying goes.

How about Joseph? Let’s look at Joseph. Next. Genesis chapter thirty-seven. Long stretches of life, God records. Long stretches in fulfilling different promises. And just because our specific circumstances aren’t recorded in the Bible, we’re of course striving for the greatest promises. We’re staying focused on the greatest of promises, salvation. We want to enter God’s family and help bring others to that as well. We were promised things at baptism, promised the greatest calling possible. The greatest calling God has ever offered.

Genesis thirty-seven, here we read about Joseph as a young man. “And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old,” we’ll focus on that number now. Seventeen years old when this happened. A lot of young people in the room around that age.

“...Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. Jealousy. I mean, he shouldn’t have played favorites. Not a good thing to do with children, but went too far here.

“And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.” The seventeen-year-old who we’re already jealous of, that the youngest amongst us, just dreamed this dream. And let’s see what it is. “And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed.” What is it? The fool speaks all his heart, I think it says in the Proverbs. I’m not calling Joseph a fool, but there are certain things you don’t reveal. But he chose to tell his brothers who already hated him about this special dream he had, and, of course, it was for God’s greater purpose.

“For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about me, and made obeisance to my sheaf.” You know, your sheaves were all bowing to mine. I know I’m the favorite, but this is the kicker here, fellas. I mean, it’s just rather remarkable that he’d tell his brothers this. Yes, I had this dream where I was a sheaf, and you were all bowing to me.

“And his brethren said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” I’ll tell you, if my little brother came up to me and said something like that, I’d have similar questions for him. “And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more;” Oh, I bet they were waiting with bated breath to hear this one. “And, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” They’re really thinking, “Wow.”

I remember early on when I was called, I was in the kitchen in my father’s house and I overheard my father and my brother talking in the other room. My brother was saying, “Dad, he thinks he’s going to rule planets one day.” Like in this muted voice, “He thinks he’s going to become God.” I mean, it sounds completely absurd, and it’s as damaging as it gets, when your family thinks that you just think, “Wow, I mean, is it megalomania and steroids here?”

But, “...the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that you hast dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to you and to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.” His father knew there was something to it, but still, I mean, the wise in heart discerns time and judgment. This wasn’t very good judgment. It may have been for God’s... It was for God’s purpose. I can’t say that, but just a very humorous account, in my opinion.

The envy ultimately became too much and his brothers, they said, “This teasing is going too far. We’re going to kill him.” You know, every family has its problems, but the teasing became too much. “We’re going to kill him.” But then thankfully, one of them was like, “Well, you know, Judah likes the money. Why don’t we sell him instead?” Some things, can a leopard change its spots, type thing. But anyway, so they sold him into Egypt rather than killing him. And it’s in Egypt that we pick up in chapter thirty-nine and verse seventeen. So sold as a slave right after having this wonderful dream about his brothers worshiping him. They thought, “Well, he’s got what came to him. Maybe he’ll learn some humility as a slave in Egypt.”

Verse seventeen, we pick up with Potiphar accusing Joseph of making an advance at her. “And she spake unto him, according to these words, saying, the Hebrew servant, which you have brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me. And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out. And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke unto him, saying, After this manner did your servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.” Naturally. I mean, he believed this false accusation. Joseph was of course innocent. He resisted her advances.

“And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, in the place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” So he went from having this extraordinary dream at the age of seventeen, to being almost killed, sold into slavery, and now he’s in prison in Egypt as a foreigner. Did Joseph give up? Did he lose patience? No.

In chapter forty-one, interprets a dream. Chapter forty-one, verse forty-six. How much time had passed though? How much time had passed from that dream he received at age seventeen? Maybe a year, two years. Genesis forty-one, forty-six, “And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.” He had interpreted the dream and pressed Pharaoh. Pharaoh put him over the food supply.

And here we pick up in that account. “And in the seven plenteous years,” in the dream he interpreted, “...in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.” So now we’re at age thirty-seven. So he was thirty, now seven years pass, he’s thirty-seven years old, still no fulfillment of this great dream. Did he give up? “And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which were round about every city, laid he up in the same.

And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh,” the patriarch of the nation where in where God placed his headquarters.

“For God, said he, has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” Manasseh means forgetful. “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Affliction, difficulty, not smooth sailing after that wonderful dream. “And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.”

So thirty-seven years old here. “And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said.” So here we’re entering year thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty. “But in all the land of Egypt there was bread,” because God used him to do something extraordinary. “And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he says to you, do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.”

Chapter forty-two. Now, when Jacob saw his father, the same father who rebuked him, the same father who privately believed him, the same father of those brothers who did him great evil, “When Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do you look one upon another?” What are you still standing here doing? Get down to Egypt. “And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.” And we know the rest of the story.

He was used in a great way to save his brethren. He was used in a great way to save Israel. He did come to high office. His brothers did have to subject themselves to him. He did spare their lives. He did reach great office in the greatest kingdom on earth. But it took more than twenty years. It took more than twenty years, which involved being left for dead, slavery, imprisonment, being held captive in a foreign land, accused of crimes that could have resulted in death, having to miss his father, miss his brothers.

Obviously, he still loved his brothers. It’s a wonderful story of reconciliation if we were to read the rest of it. But even when he was treated unfairly, even when he had to endure all those difficult circumstances, he maintained patience. He didn’t give up. He endured. We could cite many others, like Moses, for instance. We saw some of his interaction with God. Think about Moses. At age forty, he killed an Egyptian, thinking he was helping his people. Then he had to wait forty years in the wilderness, tending sheep, just kind of in the backwoods of the wilderness, forty years before God used him, just wandering around.

Then when God finally used him at age eighty, he still wasn’t allowed to enter the promised land because of events we understand. He had to wait a lifetime, and he knows he’ll enter. He knew, of course, he’d enter the ultimate promised land. He knew he’d enter the kingdom of God. But what a life of waiting. What a life of patience. And it forged him into the man that he became, into the great example that we have, that we’re still talking about here today, that’s recorded here in scripture for our learning. God gives us these examples and says the following.

Back to Hebrews six, we were there earlier, Hebrews chapter six, verse ten. “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward his name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of the hope unto the end: That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Faith and patience work hand in hand. We focus a lot on faith, which we should, but faith and patience work hand in hand. And there are examples, great examples, of those who exercised both faith and patience. We just looked at a few of them. The Bible is, of course, filled with them.

So as we begin to come to a close here, just some practical ways to increase, to develop patience. Of course, studying those accounts forms the foundation of that practicality. We understand the importance of it. We understand why we have to endure, why we can’t give up, just as those who went before us didn’t give up. And we’re ultimately rewarded for that, but a few practical points here. Studying God’s word develops patience. Psalm one hundred thirty. Studying God’s word develops patience. Psalm one hundred thirty, in verse five. “I wait for the Lord. My soul does wait, and in His Word do I hope.”

We study God’s Word to know what to hope for. We study God’s word to know what to wait for. We want those promises to be real. We never want to lose sight of what it is we’re pressing toward. That high calling, that ultimate prize. So studying helps us develop that patience, makes us more willing to wait for it no matter what. It might be difficult to wait for it, but increases our desire and our ability to wait for it.

Romans fifteen. We saw earlier this, but we’ll look at it in this context now. This was right in the area, I believe, where God was called the God of patience. Romans fifteen. Yes, God was called the God of patience in verse five. Here’s verse four. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.” We have to go study these accounts in order to learn, “That we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

We see the end result of those who exercise patience who went before us. We read about the promises that we’re given, and it engenders in us hope. It motivates us. It keeps us going. It makes us press forward no matter what it is that we have to endure, no matter what it is that we encounter. The Bible is filled with these kinds of promises that generate hope, and they are marvelous promises.

Second Peter one. The fact that we’re still here is a testament to the fact that we are people who exercise patience. Whether you lived during Noah’s time, whether you were born in ten seventy-five, or whether you were born a century ago, or two decades ago. The fact that we’re in God’s church is a testament to the fact that we have patience if we’re still here. It’s not an easy way of life. We have every resource to make it. But, wow, society is stacked against us, and we do have a super enemy.

Second Peter one verse three. “According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.” Wonderful promises. Wonderful things that we know we’re going to receive. “That by these you might be partakers of the Divine nature.” By ultimately their fulfillment, but also by looking forward to them, we don’t give up. We maintain patience. We persevere.

“Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness.” “Just keep hanging in there,” Peter says. “And to godliness brotherly kindness; and brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But he that lacks these things is blind, and can’t see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We have to keep these promises front of mind, and the only way to do that is to regularly review them. You know, the Bible is a book about the Kingdom of God, pursuing the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the ultimate goal. We’ve learned more about the Kingdom of God in the last decade than ever before. We have a marvelous goal to look forward to. Let that motivate us. Let that develop in us patience for however little time we may have left.

Galatians chapter six, next practical way here. It kind of bleeds into that last point, but if we know these promises, we’ll know that the rewards are certain no matter how long we have to wait. That’s the beauty of it. If we know the promises, if we know the God who made the promises, then in the grand scheme of things, our wait is very, very short. The length through which we have to exercise, patience is very short in the grand scheme of things. None of us is going to live centuries. If I can think back to Noah’s account, excuse me.

Galatians chapter six, verse seven, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap.” We will receive those rewards. We will receive the promises, “If we faint not,” he says. If we exercise patience, if we stick to it. “As we have therefore opportunity, let’s do good to all men, especially unto them that are of the household of faith.”

Romans chapter two. Romans two. Verse six says, “God will render,” Romans two, six, “to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing,” using our time wisely. Yes, enduring, but also using the time, “seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, unrighteousness, indignation and wrath. Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.”

Verse seven says, “In patient continuance in well doing seek for those prizes.” It’s everywhere. It’s everywhere in the Bible because it’s necessary for our survival. Of course, we could talk about asking God for more of His spirit. Whenever we do that on a daily basis, we receive more of the fruit of long suffering. We can be granular with that. “Father, I need more patience. I need more long suffering. Please give me more of your spirit in that respect.” We can be as granular as we want to be, but that’s another great key. Beyond studying, beyond meditating on the promises, beyond keeping the kingdom at the forefront of our mind to motivate us. Another key to maintaining patience. That patience will ultimately pay off in this life and the next.

Turn to Psalm twenty-seven. The more we exercise patience, the more we grow in patience, the more a cycle will kick in. The more patient we’ll be able to become. God will help us exercise even greater patience. Psalm twenty-seven, verse fourteen. “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” So if we wait, if we exercise patience, if we do our best to become patient, God will help us with that patience. It’s a cycle, just like anything else in Christianity. We move closer to God and He assists us. He gives us the ability to move closer to Him.

Two more scriptures. Lamentations. Lamentations chapter three. Waiting for God, being patient through everything is the key to Christian survival. No matter what comes up, no matter the circumstance. Ours will, of course, be different from those we read about earlier. We each have our own personal set of circumstances. Lamentations three, twenty-five. “The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”

If you think about it, brethren, we’re doing the same thing every other Christian, Old Testament or New, has done. Whether they did it for nine hundred and fifty years or fifty years or a hundred and twenty years. We’re doing the exact same thing all Christians have done across the last six thousand years. It just so happens that we’re much closer to the ultimate prize than any of them were. If we do these things, if we keep these things in mind, if we emulate those examples, if we use these techniques and tactics that are leavened all through these examples, if we employ the principles, God promises this as we finish our wait.

Final scripture, second Thessalonians three. God makes this promise. We’re doing our part, but ultimately it’s God who sees us through to the end. Second Thessalonians three and verse five. “The Lord will direct,” Second Thessalonians three, five, meaning straighten fully, “...our hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” And whatever time we have left, whatever little time we have left, if we’re doing our part, God will straighten our hearts to that end.