Patience Transforms Waiting Into Godly Character

Before I came into the Church, this was quite a few years ago, in the late sixties, I served in the South African Air Force for one year as compulsory service. And I remember during the period of basic training, there was about three months of basic training of that year, that wherever we went somewhere within that training camp, whatever we went somewhere, we were not allowed to walk.

We had to run. Run everywhere you moved from place A to B, you had to be running. And then when we got to where we were supposed to be, we just waited and waited and waited. And I used to say, I suppose many of you have said words like this, Hurry up and wait.

And then I had a colleague there in the Air Force in training, in basic training. I haven't seen him after basic training subsequently. I had this colleague that used to tell me, George, patience is a virtue. And I think many of you have heard that statement as well, patience is a virtue. Now the question I have for you and I today, and to me myself as well, is do you and do we see ourselves in situations where our patience is tested?

Now obviously we do. Obviously we do. And today, brethren, I want to discuss cultivating patience so that we may continue growing into the stature of Jesus Christ, into God's holy, godly character. And I'm going to take it from three different perspectives. One is one of the keys to grow in patience. The other perspective is that we need to be expecting trials, which are going to try our patience. And the third perspective is that time and chance happens to us all. And so you need to use whatever opportunities we have now because we don't know tomorrow. And the question may be, well, so what?

Why must we develop patience and, in other words, develop God's godly, holy, righteous character? It's because the final outcome is that you and I will receive, if we develop patience, if we persevere till the end, patiently, we will receive the gift of eternal life. If you turn with me to Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10, verse 36, Hebrews 10, verse 36, it reads, For you have need of endurance. Now, if you look at the old King James Version, it says you have the need of patience.

Patience. So that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. What is the promise for you and I? Sure, you could say it's God's Holy Spirit, but a promise for us to be, ultimately, children of God in God's kingdom. And that is, the promise ultimately is eternal life, in God's kingdom, having God's own character. So, patience is the ability for you and I to wait and to keep doing what we know is the right thing to do, despite the difficulties.

And difficulties will come. And to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed. Many of us, like when something goes wrong, you just kick the ball or punch the wall. No further comments on that. Or, where necessary, to quietly recognize the need to repent and change. And this leads us to transforming ourselves through waiting and developing God's Holy Character. We need to navigate, brethren, through these challenges, which will happen, which will happen, with a level head.

We need to focus on the long-term issues, rather than short-term setbacks, which can be rather difficult. And therefore, this patience develops or fosters a certain amount of resilience and ultimately God's character. Indeed, when things don't go according to our desired way, we need patience, perseverance, long-suffering, to give us the strength and determination to repent if needed be, and to grow in God's character.

And thereby, we remain faithful in the hope of the promised gift and glory of eternal life. In Romans 5, 3, 4, Romans 5, 3, 4, we read, and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. Again, in the Old King James Version, it says patience.

And perseverance, or patience in the Old King James Version, produces what? Character. And character, hope. And so we need that long-suffering, that perseverance, or simply put it, patience, to help us evaluate, analyze ourselves, correct whatever actions we need to do in our lives as necessary, and develop God's holy righteous character. You know, God's holy righteous character is the mental and moral qualities of God Himself that you and I need to develop.

God is, in fact, the God of patience. That's in Romans 15, verse 5. And we know that is part of His character, and you and I need to be like Him.

However, sometimes we want it our way, and we pray and ask God, and it appears like God is not hearing our prayers. But God is hearing our prayers, and God's answer may be, No, this is not my will for you. Or His answer may be, Wait, because there is something I want you to learn. Or His answer may be, Yes, but not now. Now is not a time. There's a book entitled Naked Fruit, Getting Honest About the Fruit of the Spirit, by a lady called Elisa Morgan.

And in that book she talks about a busy day where she came home absolutely exhausted. And then the kids, when she got home, she just thought, Oh, well, I can just rest. But when she got home, they needed a special laundry for a shirt, or they needed something different for dinner. And, oh, yeah, they needed a dozen cookies for a bake cake tomorrow, the next day, that nobody had told her about it. Now, you know, you as a mother, you are exhausted, and now you've got to do all these things.

You can only imagine the frustration that she described that it was building up in earth to a boiling point until she exploded and became angry. And then she says, as she called it, she became what she called this monster mom. Monster mom. And it's like her emotions came out through this little hole, and it burst out. And then blaming and yelling started. Can you visualize some of the situations for yourself and myself? I can. We human beings. We humans with emotions.

We get frustrated. We get so frustrated, we get angry, and we explode. And sometimes we need a little bit of long suffering of patience, because that little tiny hole of that water coming out just can be quite dangerous. Look at Proverbs 25 verse 28. Proverbs 25 verse 28. Proverbs 25 verse 28.

It says, whoever has no rule over his own spirit. You know, that's basically, if you don't have self-control in these situations, there are stressing and just kind of push you to the edge, to the limit. It's like a city broken down without walls. You know, it's like we and I, we need to control our spirit. And you think about it. You think about it.

Ruling a city, it's, in analogy, one of the goals for you and I, right? Rule over five cities, ten cities, many parables talk about that. And how do you and I learn how to rule the city? How are you and I being trained for positions in the kingdom to rule the city? By ruling our spirit, by ruling our emotions. You see, so patience, long suffering, and this is the first point that I wanted to mention of the three perspectives that I mentioned that we want us to, or that I want to address today, on this theme of patience, is that ruling our spirit, in other words, having self-control, is very important because that is part of the training that you and I are having to rule in the world tomorrow.

If you and I can't rule ourselves, how can we then rule others? You know, it's all about control of the self, of those emotional impulses that you and I have, because you and I are human beings with realities. We are. And we need to learn to submit our self-feelings to God's will to do what God would expect us to do in a way that he would like us to do.

And as you analyze this, it probably starts with humility. In fact, when you look at the Beatitudes, when Christ started his ministry, the very first thing, he gave the sermon on the Mount, and one of the very first things in the sermon on the Mount was the Beatitudes, and the very first Beatitude was?

Poor in spirit, humility. He says, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then he goes on, and he talks about that we need to mourn. You need to repent. We need to change. And then he says, we need to be meek and teachable. You know, brethren, the problem here is that quite often you and I look at it and say, well, that was a great sermon.

You know, great sermon. And I appreciate the encouragement you do give, but it's not for me. You know, I'm okay. It's not for me. And so we need to look at these messages, these principles, those biblical principles as applying to ourselves. And I'm talking to me, brethren. I'm talking to all of us. I'm not putting myself in a position that I'm better to you. I'm a human being like you are with my own failings. And we know from James that God resists the proud, James 4 verse 6, and gives grace to the humble.

And in fact, if you look at the context of James 4 is why there are problems and divisions amongst you, and that's talking to God's people. And then he says, God resists the proud. Well, in fact, just before that says, our spirit, the human spirit, is just, is jealous. But then he goes on and says, God gives grace to the humble. Therefore, James 4 verse 7, submit to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. We must submit to God's early spirit. You see, the fruit of God's early spirit, you all know very well how many times have you read Galatians 5, 22 and 23?

You probably know it off by heart. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering. Wait, what is long suffering? It's patience. Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and the last one is self-control. I would like to turn it the other way around, brethren. Maybe it starts with self-control. And you and I need to have self-control, and then being gentle and meek, and being faithful, and showing goodness and kindness through long suffering, so that we ultimately may have peace and joy and therefore, godly love.

Maybe we need to start with self-control. You see that self-control is basically related to our emotions and our tongue. Just before that, just before James 4, we have James 3. And in James 3, doesn't it say, Oh, the tongue is a fire. James 3 verse 6, a world of iniquity. The tongue is to set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

And so, it's not just a tongue, brethren, but it's also our tone, and it's our action in various situations. You know, this is particularly so when we're tired, when we run down, or when we're in a rush, or when we are emotional. There's a lady in the church, some of you may know her. She wrote an article on UCG. It's actually today on the website, if you go there and look at it.

She wrote that article in 2015. And some of you may know these very children, because she's saying the children were two years old and six months old. So, which means 2015, about 11 years ago, and then it means those children too. So, plus 11 is probably 13 years old. Some of you may know them. Some of you teenagers may know them. And I'm going to read what she wrote. It's on our website. It's there today. You can go and look at it. And her name is Suzanne Borton. And she reflects an example of the use of self-control in a life.

And we're going to read what it is on the website. It reads, So I stopped the cart and took a step or two away to get the one I needed. Then suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw motion in the cart, and the next thing I saw was Tiffany falling out of the cart. And as one does, when one is falling, she grabbed the nearest thing, her little sister's cart, that's Farrah, a car seat handle, and the two together went tumbling out of the cart. So I now have Farrah screaming and crying, still strapped in a tipped-over car seat, and Tiffany crying on the floor. As some of you teenagers, you probably know these very young girls today.

My first instinct was to go over, grab Tiffany, and say, what in the world—maybe she thought of different words—but anyway, what in the world were you doing? Why were you leaning out of the cart? Why did you grab your sister? But as I turned, the word self-control came into my mind, and I knew this was my opportunity to use.

At that moment, I focused all my attention on them, not being concerned what the others in the store were thinking of me as a mother. I first went to Farrah in the car seat, and got her turned upright straight. After examining her and seeing that she was fine, I set her to the side. As she continued crying, I then went to Tiffany and helped her to her feet. The look in her bright blue eyes was one of fear, not knowing for sure what her mom's response was going to be.

I looked her over to be sure she was okay, and then I took her in my arms and gave her a hug. Isn't that lovely? As I did this, I could feel and see the fear melt away from her. She calmed down quickly and began to apologize for what she had done. She said, Mom, I only wanted to touch the bottle of juice. I didn't mean to fall out of the cart and pull down Farrah.

Is she okay? She continues, Suzanne continues and says, It was a teaching moment for both Tiffany and myself. This instance showed me that by controlling my emotions, my actions and tone, we're much more loving than they would have been normally. Tiffany's response to me was also so much more loving and cooperative than it would have normally been. I think it's a beautiful story.

But what is the key? The key is that you and I must not allow our emotional impulses to rule over us. And this is spiritual growth. And this is developing godly character.

You see, self-control defends us from Satan's attacks, particularly if we use God's early spirit. And as we read in 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 5 to 8, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 5 to 8, but also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge self-control. We need to add to our faith and trust in God, and we know in the truth we gotta add self-control. And now to self-control, perseverance. Stick to it-iveness till the end. And to perseverance, godliness. And to godliness, brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness, godly love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then this is the importance, brethren. We need to have self-control. We need to persevere. And our bearing of fruit will not be ineffective, but it will be productive. So, how does God want us to develop self-control? Well, God helps us with His Spirit. His Spirit leads us. You see, Romans 8, verse 14 says, As many as are led by God's Holy Spirit, they are the sons of God. God gives us the power to love others. You know, in 2 Timothy 1, verse 7, it says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound mind. And so, when we are hurt and paining, we need to ask for God's Holy Spirit. We need to submit to God. And if we repent and grow patiently in God's way of thinking, we are now developing the full stature of Jesus Christ, which is Godly character. So, it applies to all of us. It's not a weakness. It's actually growing in God's character. So, let us strive to do that. In Hebrews 12, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, Hebrews 12, verses 1 and 2, this is just after the faith chapter, Hebrews 11. So, in Hebrews 12, it says, Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance. Again, in the old King James Version, it's got with patience. The race that is 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 sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He endured. This is Christ endured. He had patience and perseverance. Brethren, I know it's very difficult. I know you and I, we all sometimes, just, you know, we break it. But it's part of our growth, and remember, God never leaves or forsakes us. Hebrews 13, verse 5. He wants you and I to develop godly character. He really wants it. He's there for you. He's helping you and me and all of us with god's holy spirit. And so my second point that I mention to you is that understand that you and I will have trials. We will be persecuted, particularly if you and I are striving to be like Christ.

You know, in Matthew 5, verse 10 through 12, says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my name's sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecute the prophets. Who were before you. You see, god's purpose is for you and I to be in god's family.

And he is teaching us to be like him. And just like they persecuted Christ, they will persecute us. As you and I try to serve god, expect trials. Expect trials. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 12 through 13, says, Therefore is the elect of God holy and beloved.

Put on, you know, what requires an effort. And he says, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering. That is, dispassioned long-suffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. Brethren, god has a purpose for you and I. And that's why we have to go through trials, because god wants us to become better.

And his loving care, he knows that ultimately you and I will overcome and we'll be there. The main thing is we just mustn't give up. We've got to keep going on. In John 15, verse 20, Christ said, remember the word that I said to you.

A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they'll also persecute you. We are going to have trials. And we know him. 1 Peter chapter 4, 12 and 13 says, do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trials. But rejoice, in verse 13 he says, to the extent that you partake of Christ's suffering, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. So this is part of our development. We've got to be patient. We've got to look for that joy, and we've got to just endure.

I know it's hard. 1 Timothy 6, verse 11 and 12, But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay old unto eternal life. That is the final outcome for all of us. Brethren, think about it in a slightly different way. When we wait, in other words, we are waiting for God, because God is in control. God is in control, and therefore when you and I patiently wait, we are learning to show respect for God. He knows what he's doing. For God, as creator of all things, we need to know, we need to understand, we need to patiently wait on him.

And that means that even when we have these trials and difficulties, we've got to go ahead and produce good deeds. That's why in Romans chapter 2 verse 6 and 7 says, God will render each one according to his deeds. Eternal life to those who by patiently continuous in doing good.

Patiently, continuously, in doing good. Brethren, God wants you and I, he wants us in his family. He wants us to learn, and if appropriate, if necessary, to repent. But he wants us to grow, to work together, to get along with each other patiently in peace. And love. This is a great mystery. That testing of our faith, in words, waiting patiently for God, produces patience.

You read that in James 1 verse 3. And so let, in verse 4, let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. In other words, that you may have God's holy character, ultimately. Brethren, when we are going through difficulties, take time to study God's Word and read his promises. He promises that he will deliver you and I. Now I know it's not easy to wait patiently. No, it's not easy. But God has a special blessing for each one of us if we trust and obey Him. That's why it says there's going to be great joy. This is nothing to compare with the glory that will be revealed to us ultimately.

In Revelation chapter 2 verse 10, we read there that it says, Do not fear, in one of the letters to the churches, Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested. And you will have tribulation, in that specific case, ten days. But he says, Be faithful unto the end. In other words, be patient and faithful and stick to it unto the end, and I will give you the crown of life, eternal life.

Remember, God is patient with us. Oh, boy, I'm glad that God is patient with you and I. I think we all are. I'm glad that he's more patient than we are. God is patient with us. And so let us, likewise, develop patience with others while there is time. You see, at the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, at the end of the matter, All has been heard, fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. And then in verse 14 of Ecclesiastes 12, he says, For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or bad. And so there's going to be a time of judgment.

But judgment is not just punishment. Judgment is reward. There's going to be a time of reward. The question is, you and I don't know when. And that brings us to the third point, the third perspective that I mentioned to you that I wanted to cover today. And I'll summarize it this way, the lesson of the fig tree. You may say, what has that got to do with it? Well, you see, it brings to us a point of God's patience and a time of judgment. Let's look at Luke chapter 13 verse 6 through 9. Luke chapter 13 verse 6 through 9. And here we have a parable of the fig tree. Luke chapter 13 verse 6 through 9. And we read, and Christ spoke this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of the vineyard, Look, for three years I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree and found none. Cut it down. Why does it use up the ground? And he answered and said to him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And verse 9, if it bears fruit, well, but if not, after that you can cut it down.

And you may wonder, so what is the lesson? What is the lesson? Well, it is important always to read the context. Brethren, we need to read the context. And what is the context? The context starts in verse 1 of Luke 13. And it says, in the way present at the season, some who told him about the Galileans, whose blood piloted mingled with their sacrifices. So we have the context, the eyes that some Galileans, their blood piloted mingled with their sacrifice. In other words, there was some atrocity committed by the Roman ruler of the province upon some Galileans. And in Christ, he used that to teach a powerful lesson. Let's look at verse 2. And Jesus answered and said to them, Did you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered such things? Were they worse sinners?

Brethren, remember Ecclesiastes 9 verse 11, which says, Time and chance happens to everybody, right?

You and I don't always control the events that happen to you and I. These poor people were just like everybody else around them. But time and chance, it happened on them. They were humans. They had weaknesses. And yes, they had strengths like everybody else. They were going about their daily life and suddenly kaboom! They got caught up in an event to come their way. And in verse 4 and 5, Christ says, or verse 3, sorry, verse 3, it says, I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. He answered the lesson. And then he goes on and gives another lesson. And then that's in verse 4 and 5. All those eighteen of whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them. So there must have been an event in that town that they all were talking about. Some big accident and a tower fell on somebody and all of them got killed. Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Time and chance happens. You see, Yau Christ used two examples, and in these two examples, he had two calls to repentance to change the direction in one's life. We could be like those who unexpectedly we caught up in different circumstances, and their lives were snuffed out in an instant. Every day, brethren, you hear and I hear of accidents, events happen, which we have no control over them, to good people, and people get hurt. Time and chance happens to us all. You see, an unproductive fig tree in a vineyard is pretty much useless. If it doesn't produce fruit, a remedy needs to be applied, and the remedy was, well, wipe it out, take it out, pull out that fig tree. Or maybe need some special treatment or a shock treatment, and maybe there's a lesson here. What about you and I? What's happening in our lives? Can we make a sense of what's happening, of this confusion that is around us?

Do we know the purpose of our lives and what it will become? Now, I'm asking of our life, of your life, of my life, specifically. Or, yeah, we know that we're going to be children of God in the kingdom of God. But what is God, God in mind for you and me specifically? That He's training you and I specifically for that purpose? Okay, maybe we don't know. I don't know. But God's got something in mind, and you and I need to trust Him. And so, there's a bigger purpose. Besides, yes, just being children of God, there's a specific purpose. There are many mansions in my father's house, but there's one specific for you that He's preparing for you, and a specific crown for you. And so, the owner, the vineyard's owner, solution would be, well, cut it down! Then why is it taking up space? But thank God that God is not like that, because God is full of mercy and compassion, He's patient and loving, He's also a God of judgment. So, He says, well, unless you repent, otherwise you're going to be cut down. Brethren, don't be discouraged. The keeper of the vineyard gives us the answer. Let it alone for a little longer, until I dig around it and fertilize it, and if it bears fruit, well, but if not, after that, you can cut it down. We all have time. We all have time. What are we doing with our time now? Maybe God is giving us a little bit of extra time. God has a purpose for you and I. You see, God owns us and gives us time to grow spiritually, to develop His character, to produce fruit. You know, in Galatians 5, once again, it says, The fruit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We've got to use God's Holy Spirit to start bearing these end results, to allow our lives to be changed by God's Holy Spirit with God's help. You see, this parable of the barren fig tree is meant to teach us a vital lesson. In many cases, there's repentance. We all have to change something. And maybe we need to ask God, please help me to see what is it that I need to change. God is patient and grants us time to change and bear fruit. None of us knows how much time you and I have, because there is time and chance. Nobody knows how much time we have.

So, it's time to move on. It's time to use patience to transform our waiting into godly character. The ability to wait calmly and tolerate whatever delays really empowers us to make the clear-headed decisions that we need to do. Patience helps us to avoid acting out of frustration or anger, thus preventing hasty choices and negative consequences. So remember, the first perspective I mentioned to you is self-control. Secondly, you and I will be persecuted. We will be tested. But with God's great purpose in mind, with his great wisdom, we need to remain faithful till the end. We need to understand that God gives us time to develop his character, but there is a time of judgment as well. There is one important consolation, a very important consolation. That scripture that I'm going to read now was put in the bulletin of this week. Revelation 3 verse 10. It says, because you have kept my word about patient endurance. Because we have kept God's word of patient endurance. I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world. Brethren, as you and I look at things in the world, we say, how are we going to get through our little ones, how God is going to protect our little ones? But God has given us a promise, and God is faithful. He does not lie. And he says, because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world. Not just this country, all countries, wherever you are. To try those who dwell on the earth. God promises a reward of protection for this great virtue of patience. His judgment is always just. And only he understands the depth for your specific life, how much he wants to train you and develop. He is aware of the vineyard of that vine, which is you and I. He is aware of us. And he wants you and I in the kingdom. And that is very comforting. His desire is just beyond you and I. Remember that, though. His desire is for the whole world. And so, sometimes you and I have to go through trials for others. Yes, because his desire is for the whole world. And in 2 Peter 3 verse 9 it says, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. So, sometimes the trials are not just for us. It could be for others. Because God loves everybody, and he may allow you to go through certain difficulties and challenges for the purpose of helping others. So, brethren, let us develop godly character through patiently endurance so that we may all produce that abundant fruit of inheriting eternal life, the crown of life, in God's kingdom.