Patience Expressed

Good Morning, We are continuing our sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. We looking at the 4th Fruit of Patience....Gal 5:22 tells us that

The Fruit of the Spirit is love, Joy, peace.... Patience.

Some of us in this room will remember life before the internet, DSL and Wifi.

How many of us remember connecting your modem to the internet in order to just get mail… We were just amazed by the fact that we could send and receive mail electronically...

Today when our wifi goes out at our house… it feels like we have had a power cut… If you ever want to call a family meeting today… just switch off the wifi… Someone will find you..

How Patient are you? to be honest I struggle with patience..

The other night Mark and I are in the drive through line at Taco Bell--- and we had two cars in front of us ... probably a 5 minute wait... I found myself getting impatient… And I actually said to Mark.. they should come up with a way to make Drive through lines faster... Not only do I want fast food… I want fast food faster....

Now these are 1st World problems...- there are many people around the world that would be grateful to be be in line waiting for food..

The problem is that we have a consumer mindset: “I want it now! I want it fast! And if I don’t get it from you, I will go to someone else who will serve me faster..

We live in a culture of convenience… that does not put much value on patience…in fact we are almost a culture of impatience… (Keller) If you go back you see that ancient cultures valued patience… Impatience was seen as shallow and lacking in thought… it was reckless and could result… in lost opportunities…open to dangers.for example in Proverbs it tells us...

Self-control is pictured as a wall that provided a hedge of protection… when the wall is down you have no defensives… and are open to the enemies attacks..

In the NT Patience is an essential virtue as a follower of Christ.. --- It is one of the attributes of God… the Bible tells us in several place that God is slow to anger...

New England preacher Phillips Brooks - famous preacher from the last century... was known for his poise under pressure, but close friends knew he struggled with impatience. One day a friend, seeing him pacing, asked, “What’s the trouble, Dr. Brooks?” The great preacher replied: “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”

God being patient is actually a really good thing for us...

In Exodus 34:6-7 there is this beautiful self disclosure of God… Where God passes before Moses on the Mountain..

It was written after Moses returns to Mt. Sinai a second time to receive the ten commandments.. The first time Moses went to receive the law Israel after month or more Israel had become impatient with Moses…

In Moses absence Israel had created an image of a golden calf to worship… When Moses comes down from the Mountain he finds Israel in a drunken celebration…

Moses anger flares up and he smashes the law… Moses then makes the effort to repair the relationship between himself God and Israel— He starts meeting with God in the tent of meeting outside of the Israelite camp…

Moses longs to see God’s Glory… the main reason is that he doesn’t want to go forward with Israel… without God’s presence.

God instructs Moses to cut new tablets and return to the mountain… and is here in the cleft of Mountain. where God reveals to Moses his name and his character..

Exodus 34:6 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

This is amazing to me Instead of destroying Israel..for turning to idols...

God proclaims his Name his nature to Moses — he uses the title Lord or JHWH his covenant name twice… This is no accident but rather for emphasis… basically God declares himself… “The One Who Always is,” Really is”

There is something comforting in the Name of God… the eternal God… God ties his name to his nature… they are inseparable..

God is always is and really is-- full of merciful and gracious… God is alway is and really is patient— slow to anger - steadfast love and faithful… God is also a God of justice when it comes to dealing with sins that get past on from generation to the next…

God is Patient in His nature… So when it comes to Galatians to the Fruit of the Spirit.. it makes sense that when we abide in Christ..… His divine Nature is going to fuel our lives… Christ works in and through our lives.. It’s his nature that shines through..

When we express love --- it’s not our love… but His love… it is His joy… His peace… His patience…

The key to living in this fast pace culture… Is allow His Patience to Fuel our lives…

Patience is more than being stuck in a waiting room… Patience carries this idea of steadfastness… standing in… having determination when facing difficulties..

T/s There are four things that Patience is going Fuel in our lives.. the first...

1. Patience is going Fuel our Hope.

Hope is an important part of life… It has said that a “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air...but only for one second without hope...

Hope is oxygen for the Soul...

Studies have proven that people who have hope (who are optimistic about the future) tend to enjoy better physical and psychological health.. Not only do they enjoy better quality of life but they seem to recover much faster..

Some examples are those who had spinal cord injuries who had high levels of hope were less depressed than those who had less hope..

One of the reasons for higher success rates are those how were hopeful used problem-focused coping… Which is aimed at addressing the source of the stress --- rather than focusing on the problem… Those with hope… sought out social support and emphasized the positive aspects of the situation.. those who were more pessimists.. used denial, became more stressed… and became disinterested in the goal they were pursuing...

Hope is not dependent on your circumstances it is dependent on your focus.

We are going to be looking at the book of James this morning.. James was the biological brother of Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem. His letter is written to Jewish Christians who are scattered by the dispersion...

They are living in a society that has been characterized as being angry…people who divided between the very Rich and poor… people were polarized…by money power and ideology....

James is encouraging the Christians to be authentic in very difficult times .... He urges to develop Patience, perseverance, stamina… James starts our with taking on trials with an attitude of Joy..

James 1:2–4 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James tells us to Count it ALL Joy when our lives meet difficult situation… The word Count is the same word for Reckon - Which is an accounting term --- used when Reconciling your books…(to put to ones Credit)

In other words James is telling us to... Take all your Trials.... All Your Difficulties… and move them to the Credit Side…of the ledger.... Take them from the expense column and put them as an Income ---as a Benefit…

....We have gone through our fair share of trials and test in our lives.. . and we all know that going through trials sucks… it’s tough — it’s uncomfortable… it stressful....your maybe fearful..

James says let Patience Fuel your Hope..

James is inviting us to change our perspective of the trials that come our way… to take 10 steps backwards… and look a the big perspective..

For years and years, I have played this message in my head that I am not a runner… I hate running… Several months I started running… started five minutes.. 10 minutes… 20 minutes.. going up… the more running the easier its becoming… Now im a the point that I am actually enjoying running… my perspective has been change...

James says have joy in the face of your trial because the testing of your Faith produces - Steadfast Endurance — When you exercise developing patience and joy in your circumstances… it increases.. our joy…

There is great lesson here

Patience is the vehicle (or the means) that that is going to equip us for life…

The word “complete” in verse 4 means “whole, well, physical or spiritual well-being. This word is often used of people Jesus healed..

The phrase “lacking nothing” in verse 4 means “not deficient with regard to spiritual strength.” With each trial endured, we’re that much stronger to endure the next one..

In other words the afflictions and difficulties of life are actually the pathway to our sanctification, (Sanctification just means become more like Christ)l… Tests are the progressive road to becoming perfect and complete, lacking in nothing...

The word “testing” is same word for testing was used to describe the refining process of metals like gold. They would melt the metal into liquid form so that impurities would rise to the top and be skimmed off. The precious metal was then much more valuable. That’s the purpose of our testing too! God removes impurities from our lives as our faith is tested.

A faith that has been tested is a faith that can be trusted. - Craig Groeschel

T/s There are four things that Patience is going Fuel in our lives..

1. Patience is going Fuel our Hope.

2. Patience is going to Fuel our Faith.

When you look at Faith in the Bible there is always a timeline… God makes promises… and then there is this period of waiting and trusting… and then fulfillment…Every promise has a Delay.. Just read through Hebrews 11 and see all the delays.. … Abraham and his call into Caanan land…first had to live in tents in the land...

Abraham and Sarah’s promise to be parents…God promised that they would have descendants as numerous as the stars… and grains of sand on the sea shore… When Sarah finally conceived she was past the child bearing age… Some even died in faith… not receiving the things promised..but seeing them from afar...

Faith is never just one step… Often we get stuck in the delays…we get frustrated and angry... We need to remember that God is more concerned with the Journey of faith.... God does his best work in the delays of our lives...

We often think of Faith as being instantaneous… In the Gospels we we see Jesus healing people instantaneously when they had faith... What we often fail to see is the struggle…

In Mark 5 there is this story of the woman with the issue of blood that reaches out and touches Jesus garment - and immediately Jesus feels this virtue power going out of him…He immediately asks who touched me? When the woman comes forward Jesus tells the women --- Jesus commends the women by saying your faith has made you well. On the surface you might think well that women had faith in the moment… I think it’s a bit deeper than that… because..

What we forget is that this same woman had struggled for 12 years with this problem.. she had suffered under many physicians… and spent all the money she had on trying to get healed… but instead of getting better she got worse… This tells me that this woman was persistent faith… some of us may have quit.. but when Jesus came by… she gave it one more shot.... she reached out again… This kind of faith is tied to endurance...

his is what James teaches these Christians that are scattered through out the Roman empire… they are going be facing h trials… Hold onto your faith with Patience endurance..

James 5:7–8 ESV

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. 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. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Be Patient, is written as command as an imperative.. the word patient means to be even tempered while enduring difficult situations.. Patience not because everything is going to turn out right… Patience.. is tied to long term goals... Coming of the Lord... Parousia... All of Human History is moving towards this end...

We have Hope…in this life… but there is ultimate hope found in the coming of Christ. We have to remember that imminent return of Christ was front and center of first century theology… it was a core belief… this same Jesus that ascended in Acts is coming back… .

James uses the Farmers as an illustration … Look at the farmers see how they wait for the precious fruit from the land… These are not commercial farmers there subsistent farmers depending heavily on the crop to feed their family… all bets were in and if there was no harvest there was no food for their families… The lesson of the Farmer is that good things happen when we wait...

Learn from the Farmers.. the importance of Planting… If we want any sort of harvest in our lives we need to be sowing the right kind of seeds… after the-- Planting…

---Then there is the Waiting Period.

There is absolutely nothing he can do to speed up the process of rainfall and the subsequent harvest. The first rains may refer to the first Advent Christ… the later rain referring to his coming...

Everything has its appointed time

the Chinese bamboo tree does absolutely nothing--or so it seems--for the first four years. Then suddenly, sometime during the fifth year, it shoots up ninety feet in sixty days. Would you say that bamboo tree grew in six weeks, or five years?

I think our lives are similar to the Chinese bamboo tree. Sometimes we put forth effort, put forth effort, and put forth effort ... and nothing seems to happen. But When you focus on the right things for extended time it is going to fuel your Faith...

James urges us to remain patient while we wait for God to vindicate injustice rather than seeking vindication ourselves

T/s How does Fruit of Patience Fuel your life?

1. Patience is going Fuel our Hope.

2. Patience is going to Fuel our Faith.

3. Patience is going to Fuel Our Relationships.

How many of you have difficult people in your lives? You don’t have to answer that… nobody in this room at least… but out there somewhere are difficult people…From time to time God allows someone or a challenging situation to arise in our lives and relationships to build our character… It can come in the form of our marriages, friendships… within the work place… And the way we handle things is important… We may not be able to fix every interpersonal problem that comes our way… not every conflict is going to result in resolution…

But every conflict — there is powerful lessons- we need to learn perseverance… It what James talks about in James 1:4

James 1:4 ESV

4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

How do we exercise patiences in relationships. We exercise patience through our words… not just what we say to people but what we say about people when they are not arround..

James 5:9 ESV

9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

What is interesting is that the church at this time is experiencing pressure from without and it is at the same time causing pressure with in the community of faith..

How many times does conflict outside of our homes.. for example from our work, family members, relationships… cause problems on the inside… If you are having conflict in your home it maybe a good idea to stop and ask where is the source of this conflict… are we inviting outside troubles into our home?

James wants these Christians to guard the unity in the church… and make sure that they are not filled with resentment and bitterness to one another… The instruction is simple… REFUSE TO GRUMBLE about each other…

What’s grumbling? When people are frustrating, disappointing, and disillusioning to you, how do you respond? Grumbling is a response you sometimes do outwardly, but in many cases you do it inside. Grumbling is responding to people who disappoint and frustrate you with resentment, negativity, and cynicism..

Exercise Patience means controlling our words.. James deals with the power of our words in James chapter 3… Where he tells us that the tongue is the smallest member of our bodies — yet when it is not under control… it can do great damage… he tells us that tongue is a fire… that has the potenital to set a forest a blaze… It has to be tamed… all kinds of animals can be tamed..beasts birds reptiles…

.We don't tend to view grumbling and complaining as serious sins, but James specifically names grumbling because he regards it as a serious sin that will lead to God's judgement.

If you have read the Book of Exodus, you will note that when God delivered his people, the Hebrews, out of the land of Egypt—where they had been slaves for 400 years—and led them through the desert en route to the Promised Land, they grumbled about not having meat, onions, or leeks. God regarded the sin of complaining and grumbling as being very serious… It was there grumbling and complaining that kept them wondering around in circles for 40 years..

Patience that fuels relationships… comes from patience forbearance...

Forbearance… as a verb...means that you make the effort to “bear with” other people, even when they irritate and annoy you, or worse.

Forbearance is when you choose to forgive people, rather than hold a grudge against them.

Forbearance is when you choose to overlook something that was hurtful or unkind, rather than fighting back with harsh words or making sure you get even with the one who did you wrong.

Forbearance is when you learn to be patient with others, mainly because you are very well aware of your own shortcomings and weaknesses. It means you remember that other people are probably also having to be forbearing with you!

T/s How does Fruit of Patience Fuel your life?

1. Patience is going Fuel our Hope.

2. Patience is going to Fuel our Faith.

3. Patience is going to Fuel Our Relationships.

4. Patience is Going to Fuel Our Endurance.

In the 1970’s Stanford researcher Walter Mischel did a long-term study on personal self control. The purpose of the study was understand when delayed gratification is developed in Children… In the study Children were placed in a a room with a bell and a marshmallow..If the child rang the bell, Mischel would come back and the child could eat the marshmallow.

If the child waited for Mischel to come back on his own, the child could have two marshmallows.

In videos of the experiment, you can see children squirming, kicking, hiding their eyes—desperately trying to exercise self-control so they could wait and get two marshmallows. Their performance varied widely. Some broke down and rang the bell within a minute. Others lasted fifteen minutes.

What the study revealed was that..

The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores. They got into better colleges and, on average, achieved more as adults. The children who rang the bell quickest were more likely to become bullies. They received worse teacher and parental evaluations ten years later and were more likely to have drug problems at age thirty-two.

Mischel concluded that children may be taught “that it pays to work toward the future instead of living for instant gratification.” David Brooks, “Marshmallows and Public Policy,”

James teaches us that Patience is the path way to wisdom. James is offering pastoral and practical wisdom (like the book of proverbs) how to live in Christ in an angry world…He calls the church to authentic faith that goes beyond surface level but rather but rather expressed Faith through deeds

James 5:10–11 ESV

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Patience is all about Pace… It’s not a 100 yard dash… It’s about going the distance… The Fruit of patience is going to Fuel your ability to persevere in the face of the challenges..

When you thing about it the faster you set the pace of your life the less endurance you are going to have…

One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is to slow down...

Why do people get burnt out and crash and burn... Overwhelmed...add layers.. object lesson... keep on adding one more thing... eventually something is going to give way..

James wants the Christians to think of those who they considered blessed..

Think of the Prophets who lived in difficult times… God blessed their words… but they all went through trials…

Who do your considered Blessed? I can assure you that anyone that we might consider blessed have endured some sort of test or Character building.. We see this over and over in scripture

We are not really sure which prophets he’s thinking of, but then he gives you one. He says, “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about

The book of Job is a challenging book to understand... God allows Satan to test Job a righteous man in an incredible and unusual way. Everything that Job loves and possessed in his life was taken from him in one moment. He lost his family, servants, livestock and property...and then his own health.

On top of it he has three friends who are miserable comforters, instead of lifting Job up they point fingers -surely there was something that he or his children did wrong that deserved such punishment. Job crys out in despair - because it seems that God himself has turned

his back on him.

Job 19:7–10 ESV

7 Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. 8 He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. 9 He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head. 10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

Job knew he didn't deserve the trouble that had was coming his way. Job feels that even God himself has placed a road block in his life and he is in the dark.He is broken and any ounce of hope has been rooted out. Job compares himself to a city, the walls of which are attacked on every side and broken down. His ruin is complete—he perishes. His life has been to turned upside down like an uprooted tree. Everyone of us has to wrestle with our doubts and fears.

Job was a righteous man and God allowed Satan to test his faithfulness in unusual ways and more than anyone I know in scripture. But, from this place of despair see HOPE rising, from the depths of his agony, Job makes a declaration of faith..

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Job remembers that God himself is still the great hope of his life

Out of the ashes Job saw his Redeemer of Israel, the eternal one who would make good on his promises. Job turns back to God through repentance and God pours blessings back into his life…

James says if you want to understand how to preserver with patience take a page out of the book of Job… Hebrews tells us that we have a whole grandstand of witness that point us in the right direction… most of them did not receive what is promised but they saw the promises of God from a distance…that is what it means to live with this idea that Jesus is coming back...

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Verse One we looking backward in the past … Looking back to all the examples of Faith in the past… and victories are going to help us move forward… But we are also to look forward … We are always pressing forward… it’s a gospel of continuance… gospel that perseveres towards our sanctification.... The Bible often calls us to set our minds and hearts on the things that are above.

Christ is the focal point… in the present tense. Is a strange thought because we often think of the cross behind us… Chronologically that is true.. Looking to what Christ is presently is living from the place of identification with Christ…

Douglas Moo eloquently… explains..this identification… with Christ in the past present and future...

“The past experience of dying with him and being raised with him is the basis for our present status as people whose heavenly identity is real and secure, yet hidden, an identity that will be gloriously manifested in the future.” Douglas Moo

How is patience fueling your life?

1. Have more Hope.

2. Have more Faith.

3 Have stronger Relationships.

4. Have Endurance