Patience is a Virtue

 Fourth is Patience

The King James Version of the Bible lists the fourth fruit as “longsuffering.” According to the dictionary, “longsuffering” means patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties. We could go further and say that it means resisting anger and showing patience when dealing with people!! God was surely (and still is) “longsuffering” when it comes to us.

 

Romans 2:4 “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

 

Ephesians 4:1-2 “…walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love “

 

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up.”

 

1Thessalonians 5:14 “…be patient with all.”

 

Patience Involves Perseverance.

Perseverance is defined as steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

 

  Romans chapter five begins by telling us that we have peace with God and we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Then Paul writes,

Romans 5: 3-5 “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Glory in tribulations? Who likes trouble? Yet this is what the Bible says. Trouble teaches us how to keep moving forward in spite of the difficulty or delay in achieving success. This steadfastness produces character and character produces hope.

The definition of hope is “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” Another definition is “a person or thing in which expectations are centered.” This definition applies to us, believers in the salvation given by the finished work of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the person in which are expectations are centered. He expressed this before He went to the cross.

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

 

 

 

Patience involves waiting.

Patience is not apathy. It is waiting with the confident expectation of good. The Bible says that all the promises of God in Christ are Yes, and in Christ, Amen. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

 

Job, who had been through more than any one person should be able to take, even though his friends said he must have sinned, answered that after everything, he would still wait.

 

Job 14:14 “…All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.”

 

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord, Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

David, in the Psalm 37 begins the Psalm telling us not to fret because of evildoers nor to be envious of those who appear to prosper while they’re doing wrong.

Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…”

 

 Isaiah 40:31 tells us, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

 

Luke 21:19 “By your patience possess your souls.”

 

James 1:2-3 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

 

James 5:7 says, “…See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it…”

 

1Thessalonians 5:14 “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.

 

I have such a hard time with patience. I know that God is “completing the good work He started in me and will keep completing it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6). We have to have patience while God works out our trials and we have to be patient while God transforms us into the image of His Son. This work God started is an ongoing work. He started it and He’s fine-tuning it.  Patience is standing – not standing still- but standing in agreement with what God says He will perform. The Bible says that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and that we are already blessed with every spiritual blessing according to Ephesians 1:3.

 One way to cultivate patience is to constantly recall the way God has moved on our behalf in the past. Jeremiah did this in the book of Lamentations. His people were in the midst of destruction and captivity and Jeremiah rightly “laments” his grief.

Lamentations 3: 17 “You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.” Yet by the time we get to verse 21, we have Jeremiah “remembering” his source of hope.

Lamentations 3: 21-26 “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.”

 

Patience is a Virtue?

This phrase is supposedly taken from an epic poem from the fifth century. Whether or not the poem itself is based on any Biblical principle isn’t clear. What is clear is that when the woman with the issue of blood “snuck up on Jesus and touched the hem of his garment,” He responded, “Some virtue has gone out of me.” Now the word virtue is defined as “high moral standards.” For Jesus to say some of his “high moral standard” has gone out of him is to say that part of His goodness was extended to this woman because of her faith. 

Mark 5:30 “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”

Interestingly enough, the New King James Version says, “some power had gone out of Him.” So now we can say that patience is goodness and patience is power.

 

Having Patience leads to peace with people

Galatians 5:22 begins with “the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Love is listed first in the attributes of living a life influenced by the Holy Spirit. Love can be thought of as number one on the list or love can be thought of “the fruit” itself, with the rest just being evidences of love. We see that 1 Corinthians 13 is often called “the love chapter.” And we see in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that “love suffers long and is kind.” As we relate to others and interact with them, we have to extend patience. Everyone is not going to think what we think or agree with what we say. Everyone is not going to act the way we think they should act or do the things we think they should do. We have to respect people enough to not jump in with our opinions while they’re talking. Even if we believe that we are right, we have to have the patience to hear people out and to allow them to live the way they see fit. Even when we’re trying to tell them about God’s goodness, we have to be sure that we are speaking in love, not in our own “rightness.” A lack of patience and a lack of tolerance for the opinions of others lead people to tune out any message of the gospel. God is certainly patient with us, let’s be patient with everyone.

 

 

Isaiah: The First of the Major Prophets

 

Isaiah's Vision of the LORD

According to The Voice, in an editorial paragraph preceding Ezekiel Chapter 2, Though God is unseen, from time to time human beings are given the privilege of seeing His glory.

Isaiah 6:1 begins with Isaiah giving us the time in history when he had this vision. He wrote, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple." Isaiah thought that truly he would die, knowing that he was a man of unclean lips, dwelling among people of unclean lips, yet he had seen the King, The LORD of hosts." verse 6: Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7. And he touched my mouth with it and said:

"Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin is purged (atoned for).

This purging of Isaiah's lips proves once more that the business of cleansing us from sin is God's alone. Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake. Jeremiah 31:34 says, “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying “know the LORD,” for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. Paul later reiterated all this for us in the New Testament, writing in Hebrews 8:11-12 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying ‘know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. As if this wasn’t enough, Paul made a further point in Hebrews 10:16. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them. 17. then He adds, ‘Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.’

Robes of Righteousness: Cleaned up and dressed up

In Isaiah 64:6, the prophet Isaiah complains to God that “we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…”

Notice that it is our so-called righteous deeds that are like filthy rags. It is not that we are like filthy rags. God created us a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5 and Hebrews 2:7). We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). It is when we try to approach God dressed in our own clothes of self-righteousness, instead of humbling ourselves before Him and letting Him do the work of making us clean, that we get into trouble.

Note Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with  jewels.

Unfortunately, some of us refuse to be “re-dressed” by God. Jesus mentioned such a person in Matthew 22:11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12. so he said to him, Friend how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

The above passage sound so puzzling. After all, the servants had gone out to the highways, and invited as many people as they could to the wedding. The part that perhaps isn’t obvious is that in those times, a king would offer appropriate wedding garments to his guests. This person must have thought his own clothes were fine.

Note Rev. 3:18-19 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich: and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed…


Note what happened in Zechariah’s vision concerning the high priest Joshua in Zechariah 3:1-4

1.      Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. 4. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.

The birth of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah's prophecy of the Birth of Jesus is a multi-layered prophecy that did have a partial fulfillment in the birth of a son to Isaiah as a sign to king Ahaz. (See Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 8:3-4)

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (this is Isaiah talking to King Ahaz) Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (which means God with us).

Nancy Guthrie, In her book called, "The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament," wrote, "The true final fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy is in Christ alone. Only Jesus could be "God with us."

Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.


The scourging and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 50:6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

Isaiah 53:4-7 Surely He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth;

I Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed.

 Jesus as a light to the Gentiles

Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.

Romans 15:12 And again, Isaiah says: There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.

Isaiah 56: 6-7 Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants-Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant- Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. See Matthew 21:13.

Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations, Says the LORD of hosts.

 

The chief cornerstone to us but a rock of offense to others

Isaiah chapter 8:14 He will be as a sanctuary , But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Psalms 118:22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

Matthew 21: 42 Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes? 44. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder. (Luke 20:17-18, Romans 9:33, and I Peter 2:6-8 are exactly the same.)

The People Will See

The People Will See

We always hear people going on about how our decision to follow Christ is such a personal decision and how the blessings that come with our salvation are spiritual blessings that no one will know about but us. Yes, it's a personal decision to ask Jesus into our hearts and yes the spiritual blessings: the promise of heaven, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the deliverance from secret sins, etc are all monumental in our lives, but the bible indicates that we will experience public blessings and that people will see these very tangible blessings that our Heavenly Father will provide for us.

Exodus 34:10
The LORD replied, “Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the LORD—the awesome power I will display for you.

Deuteronomy 28:10
Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.

Psalm 23

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.

Psalms 40

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
² He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
³ He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.

Psalm 86

¹⁷ Show me a sign for good,

That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalm 126

1 When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
² Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”³ The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.

Isaiah 61

⁶ But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,

They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
⁷ Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Jeremiah 33:9
Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.

1 Timothy 4

¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

Praise God that our progress, our healing, our prosperity our wholeness, our protection and our favor is not performed in secret, but will be evident to all. When Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. He specifically said: (verse 14) "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden," and (verse 16) "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Let the people see so that our God will be glorified!