The Perfect Work of Patience

Now, we don't call our ministers father, by the way. So anyway, I guess it's okay for you to do it, though. Good to see all of you. Life is sort of a roller coaster, isn't it? You don't know what you're going to get, you know. And it seems like that today was kind of unusual for me. All week long, I thought that Mr. Pebworth was going to come and give the sermon today. All week long, and it did not occur to me until yesterday, he wasn't coming. So anyway, I had to get to work and to present a message today. You know, the messages we have, by the way, we don't get a box from the home office that says, give this on this particular Sabbath. You know, the ministers, of course, work on them and spend a lot of time on them. And, you know, usually I begin my ideas for messages after I give the one I gave. And in other words, the very next day. Sunday I start thinking about, what am I going to talk about next Sabbath? And somehow or another, God presents it to us. So this week I got a late start. Let's put it that way. But, you know, like I say, life is a roller coaster. You really never know what is going to happen. And you've got to be prepared for whatever ends up coming down the pike. There is a curious Scripture that often troubles me at different times. Especially when I'm going through a very difficult trial. And in a lot of ways, I wish it wasn't this way. And I wish the Bible did not say this. But it does, nonetheless. And it's found in James' epistle. If you would turn with me to James, Chapter 1. Let's read a few verses over here. And you'll see why it troubles me. Particularly when I'm going through a trial. But it says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. You know, I don't know about you, but when I go through a trial, I mean, I don't have a lot of joy. It's pretty tough. Now, I would have to admit, though, that once I've been through the trial, it's a different story. I feel good that I went through it, and frankly, the experience, I wouldn't trade for anything. But going on in verse 3, it says, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Indeed, it does, doesn't it? When you go through an experience, and you pray, and you pray, and you pray, it seems like you're not delivered, and God seems to like the cliffhanger scenario. You come right up to the very cliff, and then He intervenes. But our faith produces patience. And this is the thing that is the most troubling to me, is patience. But it says, let patience have its perfect work. So that's the sermon titled today, The Perfect Work of Patience. But it says, let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Well, brethren, I want to ask you, and we're going to talk about here in the course of the message today, because we are, of course, on the way now to Pentecost. We might say we're on a journey to Pentecost. And I believe that from Passover to Pentecost, because Pentecost pictures those that are the first fruits of God, that are going to be brought into the family of God, that that period from Passover to Pentecost for you and me, brethren, is a time of trial. It's a time when we develop this thing called patience as God's people. But are you willing, brethren, to let patience have her perfect work in you so that you don't lack anything?

You know, sometimes we kind of settle for what we are, don't we? You know, if we are not measuring up on certain things in our lives, we tend to settle for what we are. But are we willing, brethren, to let patience have a perfect work in us so that we lack nothing? In other words, we're completed. We're a completed project that occurs. You know, the last part about patience and trials causes me the most consternation and difficulty, because by nature, don't we all want it now? We want it all right now. I mean, you know, when I came in this morning, I had instant coffee. And I didn't want to stand next to a coffee maker and wait for, you know, two or three minutes. I mean, that's a lot of time, two or three minutes, for a cup of coffee. And so I like the decaf, you know, quick mix type thing. And it doesn't take very long. But, you know, that is the most difficult thing about the trials that we go through. If you had the trial, and it happened, it was over. You wouldn't mind that so much, but sometimes they go on and on and on.

Well, let me tell you, brethren, that the formula for perfection must involve patience. It must involve patience. The formula for perfection of doing what God is doing involves patience, and it must involve patience. And this is why life is the roller coaster, like I said at the very beginning. Somethin' down. It's something down. And God wants us to be like eagles. He wants us in our lives to be like eagles. But I thought about that when I was thinkin' about this message today, and I was thinkin', but God, we're a bunch of turkeys.

So how do we go to soar like eagles? You know, because we are sometimes, aren't we, a bunch of turkeys?

Sometimes young turks and old turks. And so I found it very interesting, this story, about how an eagle is taught how to fly.

Now, I've heard and read that an eagle trainings, the training of an eaglet is a very patient endeavor on the part of the mother. It's very difficult to train an eaglet. Now, let's pretend for a moment that you and I are a little eaglets. And we're comfortable in our nest.

We like being where we are. It's like a child before it's born. It is comfortable in his mother's womb. It's warm, you get fed, you get three meals a day, you know, yeah. Nobody wakes you up if you're tired. You know, you can sleep all in one. And that's the way it is for an eaglet. Once an eaglet is born to the mother, she cares for that baby, you know. Everything it is fed comes from the mother.

And we, of course, know how birds feed one another. She's out, she's out and about, and she gets the food, she comes back, and she cares, you know, for her babies, for eaglets. And, of course, when they see her coming, they're overjoyed because they know they're going to get to eat.

But eventually, when that little eaglet gets big enough, it's just nothing more than a little fuzzball. But when it gets big enough, you know, the mother eagle basically decides, in a particular place, time to fly. It's like sometimes our kids, you know, you know, they want to stay in the room, they want to stay at home. Eventually, there comes a time where they have to fly as well. They have to get out of the house, they have to make their own way in life.

And there is a time for that kind of thing. Well, for the mother eagle, at a particular time, she decides it's time for those eaglets to begin to fly.

I mean, that's their birds, right? So they must learn to fly. But how does an eagle learn to fly? You know, how do they... the first time? You know, how do they do that? Well, the mother eagle grasps the eaglets with her talons, and she flies as high as she can go. She goes up two miles, ten thousand feet in the air. And she's got a hold of this little baby eaglet, eaglet. And imagine here that, you know, I'm sure for the eagle, it's like a ride, you know, of his life. He's never been out of the nest. He's accustomed to the nest. He's been fed. He's been nurtured all of his life.

And mom now is taking him clear up two miles, you know, and I'm sure he looks down and sees how wonderful it is. Oh, you can see a lot wrong way up here, mama. And then the mother eagle, you know, at that great height, who's clutching this terrified baby, lets it go. And this little fuzzball that was cared for so well in his, in the nest, all of a sudden it's tumbling down and down and down.

It's growing all the way at a very rapid speed. And suddenly the mother eagle puts her wounds back, you know, and she dive bombs and she shoots right past the eaglet. And at the exact time as she zooms past the tumbling little titan, you know, the mother spreads her wings and catches the eaglet on her back. Now, I'm sure by that time, you know, when that occurs, the little eaglet says, Mama, I love this! I love this! Let's do it again! And this is repeated many, many times until the eaglet learns to fly. And at no time, by the way, at no time is that little eaglet in danger because the mother is always there to rescue the eaglet.

Let's go over here to Exodus 19. There's a reason I'm telling the story. There's a reason I'm telling the story. You know, basically, the purpose, by the way, of the mother is to essentially give the baby eaglet its wings, as it were, to use the wings that it has.

But really, Exodus 19, Exodus 19 and verse 4, let's notice here, you know, God is talking, you know, to Moses, and, of course, the people of Israel. He said in verse 4, you have seen what I did to the Egyptians, you know, the miracles that were performed, you know, for Israel. And how I bored you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Interesting way of putting it here, isn't it? When you understand again how eagle training takes place, I bore you out on basically my back like a mother eagle, and I brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine.

And you shall be to me a kingdom, a priest, and a holy nation. And these are the words which you'll speak to the children of Israel, God was telling to Moses. You are going to be a kingdom, a priest, and a holy nation. See, God wants this. He's always wanted this. He wanted a special people. He wanted a kingdom, a nation of holy people. Who would be an example to the nations of the world? To show them the way it was to be done. And you know what is interesting about the way that God does things is God doesn't often do things instantly.

You ever notice that about God? He doesn't do things instantly. Your character is not built by instant fiat. As we've heard that many, many times. God doesn't snap and can't snap character into existence. He could give you that character, but if he did, then you would be nothing more than a robot. He wants you to make the choice yourself so that that character is built with your cooperation. And as we've explained many, many times, holy righteous characters knowing the difference between right and wrong and doing what is right every single time.

So character can't be built overnight. But God is doing something so stupendous, so wonderful, so exciting. You don't hear, in fact, about this in any other church in the world, except God's church. God is reproducing Himself. And that character that we're building, by the very nature of it, involves patience and time.

It takes time. And this is the message, in fact, one of the messages of the Bible. And patience is essential. You can't get past it. There's just no way around it. If we're going to get from point A to point B, that being, of course, the kingdom of God and the paradise that is ahead of us, you know, that we have an opportunity to have a part of. Now, God did not make these promises. He kind of promises to ancient, physical Israel. But He has made them to us.

For them, they were to be an example to the nations. For us, what is in store for us is being in the kingdom, being a part of a world, a wonderful world of our own, that Jesus Christ Himself is going to use us in helping to bring a pound. But like I say, to get there to point B, for all of us, brethren, it is patience through the trials. It is patience through the ups and downs of life, this roller coaster called life. And again, I said to you, it's a message of the Bible.

It's not the only message of the Bible, but a message of the Bible that, you know, it is as plain, in fact, as it knows in our faces. It is so very much elucidated within the Scriptures. Let's go over to some of these. You know, we could probably spend hours talking about all of these, but let's look at Noah. Noah is a perfect example here. I don't need to tell you the story of Noah, although it seems these days people do not know these things. These basic things are in the Bible, but I know you are more knowledgeable of those things and have been educated in them.

But in Jesus, Chapter 6 here, this is the pre-flood time, talking about Noah. We know that God looked at the way the world was going, and He made the statement, and apparently, again, Noah wrote that down, because Moses wrote it down and has it here as a part of the Pentateuch. And it says, the Lord said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever. God, in other words, is beginning to have an attitude, a difference in how He felt about what He had created. For He is indeed flesh, yet His day shall be 120 years.

Now, please be aware of the fact that when Noah knew these things, he does not have the knowledge, brethren, that you and I have today. How old was Noah? You know, he's hundreds of years of age. And the concept of a man living 120 years would have been foreign to him. Although there are some arguments that, in fact, those that lived longer prior to the flood may have been of a particular family. But certainly to know it would have been a foreign concept of living 120 years, a mere 120 years.

But God was going to shorten man's lifespan. He would no longer live the eight, nine, hundred year period of time, but man's life was going to be cut short. But let's go over here to verse 12. Verse 12 says, "...and so God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt." The world had reached a threshold where it was completely corrupt. You know, there was violence that was upon the earth. It says, "...for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." Sounds like the world we're living in now.

Where, in fact, it's becoming increasingly more of a danger for people to even declare that they're associated with Christ. We're living in a world that is changing so quickly. But God told the ladies, because the world is this way, "...make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make worms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch." And so He was given specific instructions about building an ark, and as we know that God was only going to save eight people.

But think about the fact that this building project that God was giving to Noah went on about 100 years. Now, how many of you have been in the church for over 15 years? Would you raise your hand? A few of you have been in the church over 50 years. Now, how many of us have been around 100 years? Okay. I'm, of course, being silly. Because none of us have been. But here's a man in the Bible says he was a preacher of righteousness. He preached for over 100 years on this project.

No doubt he was giving sermons on the Sabbath to people, but Nerea 1 listened to him. No one listened to him. And the thing about it really gets me to thinking a great deal here is that God didn't tell him it would be 100 years, did He?

He didn't really tell him that. And the fact that man was going to be given 100 years, 120 years, did He really know that? Did He understand it? Did He perceive fully what God was saying? So he may not have been aware that it was going to go on 100 years. So the message, brethren, that we see here is God was perfecting Noah all that time. When you don't know again how long it's going to be. And He didn't know until the rain started coming down. He didn't know again until it began to come down and rose and He began to understand what was going to happen.

And think about the fact that He was, what, 600 years old when the Flood came? Then He lived another 350 years after that. As though those were trials enough in 600 years, He lived another 350 years. And then He had to re-establish the world. He had to re-establish, you know, things. He had a lot of work to cut out for Him, quite frankly.

And, you know, there was much frustration on the other side of the Flood dealing with Nimrod and dealing with other problems, no doubt, that erupted very early on. But the message of Noah, brethren, is what? Patience. Patience through trials. Very clear, isn't it? You think it's going to happen real fast? No. You've got to be patient. How does God move? Does He, you know, do it like this?

No, He doesn't. They take decades. They take centuries before God does what He said He's going to do. Let's go over to the next example over here. We all know this story again. And these are in Genesis, so you'll be able to stay here in Genesis. Very simple, you know, in terms of your physical dexterity. You don't have to flip back and forth through the Bible. We see here in Genesis 12 about Abraham.

Now, think about the fact that Abraham, he was, of course, of the family of Noah himself. He was of Shem, and he was of Semitic origin. God told him in verse 1 here, His name was Abraham at this time, Get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land I'm going to show you. And I'll make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you. And curse him who curses you. And in you all the family here shall be blessed. And so Abraham departed. But in verse 4 it says, he was 75 years old. Now, how many of us here are 75? Could you raise your hand if you're 75? Oh, we've got three. Maybe more that I'm not seeing somebody, but, you know, I think four. Actually, that we have. But, you know, think about the fact. What if you weren't called until you were 75?

You know, most of us have been called way before that, haven't we? But Abraham wasn't even apparently called, even though he obviously was a very righteous man. He was different. But, okay, God made these promises. I want to make you a great nation. Okay. Big, perfect time, God. I'm 75. I don't have any children. And Sarah, you know, she wasn't a spring chicken either. She was getting up in years. She could have collected the Social Security herself. You know, and it would have been a good time if God was going to get children.

So that he could fulfill his promise. But we know the story about when he comes in the morning, to the land of Canaan, God came to Abraham when he was 99 years old. So, 24 years had passed. Again, God is not doing this rocket fast here. 24 years passed. And then he says to him, when he was 99, walk before me and be your perfect. And then I'll perform all these things I've told you that I'm going to do for you. And he made him the promise that a year later he was going to have a son. And by the time he was 100, he had his first son. And that was Isaac. And we know the story and the account over in Genesis chapter 22. That sort of background there. In Genesis 22, we see over here again that God, after giving him this son, Isaac, he had the chance to bond with Isaac. He had the chance to get to know Isaac. Because by this time, in Genesis 22, Isaac's probably about 17 years old. He might be 16, could be older. About 17 years old.

And God says to him, I want you to take your son, your only son. No, God could have put it another way. Could he? I want you to take your only son. I want you to sacrifice him. And we know the story and the account here in Genesis 22. About how Abram, he was a very faithful man. His name changed to Abraham now. Because he was going to be a father of many nations. He takes, of course, Isaac up to Mount Moriah. And he's about ready to sacrifice him to God. And God, through an angel, says, stop. And what does he say to Abraham?

When he's about ready to sacrifice his own son, God says to him, now I know. Now I know. Since you have not withheld your only son, that I can fulfill the promises I've made to you. He was going to make him a great nation. And out of him, of course, would come this blessing, which eventually would be none other than the birth of Jesus Christ. But do you think about this, brethren? I don't know that I've really thought about this myself before yesterday. It was 25 years before Isaac was born. And then 17 years later, 17 years later, then God says he confirms it. So you get the picture here? It was 42 years, approximately. 40 to 42 years. I've often wondered, you know, is 40 a magical number with God, a special number? I think it is. How long did David rule over Israel and Judah? 40 years. How long did Israel wander in the wilderness? 40 years. 40 is a long...it is a very important time. We call it a period of trial and testing.

But God tested him and tried him for 40 years, and then he confirmed the promise. The Bible talks about, brethren, how those that are called in this age are those that are called and chosen. If you're sitting here, brethren, you've been called. Okay? At a particular point, brethren, God calls us and he chooses us. But then what remains for all of us is, will we be faithful? So God deals with those who are called, chosen, and faithful. And so, you know, with Abraham, it was proven that he was indeed faithful. And we know he's been called the father of the faithful himself. But Abraham, again, is calling the message again, brethren, through the many trials, the manifold trials that Abraham went through.

That, in fact, patience is what is necessary in the period of trial and testing that we go through, this roller coaster of life that we go through. And that we experience. That's the message. How about Joseph? Here's another example. Joseph? Now, Joseph seems to have been a very special young man, you know, from almost, I don't know how old he was, when he began to show how special.

He was special, very special to Jacob because he, of course, was the baby, you know, of the family. And maybe because he liked the personality of Joseph, the way that he was. And you could understand that. I know where I grew up in a family where there were five, I had five brothers. And every new little kid on the block, I mean, he was like a little prince, you know, in the family could do no wrongs.

And, of course, they were always smart, always smart, always, you know, intelligent. And maybe it was that way for Joseph. He was the new kid on the block. And, of course, after Joseph, it was Benjamin. Benjamin was a little guy, you know, he was the cutie, you know, as it were. And, of course, you know, there was also Dinah. I'm sure that she was indeed a princess when it came to the twelve brothers. You know, I can imagine how hard it would be to get in and have a date with Dinah.

And, of course, those two brothers, like Levi and Simeon, especially. I mean, they got the sword drawn when you walk through the door. Those boys named me business. But, you know, here you have, and I'm not going to go through this, but in Genesis 37, you know, he has this vision. And, basically, in the vision, and one of the things about you, youth, and he was a young boy, he was only seventeen years of age.

By the way, that's what the Scriptures say. In Genesis 37 over here, Genesis 37, in verse 2, it says, and this is the history of Jacob, Joseph being seventeen years old. So, he was seventeen years old, and he was having these dreams. And, of course, these dreams, he probably should have kept to himself a bit more than he did.

But, maybe it was for the ultimate purpose of what God was going to do with him. But, well, you know that was the case. But it says in verse 5, and Joseph had a dream. Genesis 37, verse 5, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more.

You know, here was this young boy, and, you know, usually by the time, if you have brothers, by the way, by the time they get to be seventeen, they're a nuisance. They become a nuisance, at least they were in our family. You know, but maybe theirs was different in that way.

But it says, so he said to them, please hear this dream, which I drew. There we were, binding sheaves in that field, and then behold, my sheaf arose, also stood upright, and indeed your sheaf stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf. You can see why the brothers might have had a problem with this.

And his brothers said to him, shall you indeed run over us, or shall you indeed have the moment over us? So they hated him even more for his grooves and for his words. Not only that, he dreamed, in fact, that his mother and father would bow down before him as well. And, of course, he meant that in a physical way for the future.

But here he was, though he was 17 years of age. Now, you know his story. I don't need to go through and recount this whole thing and read it by Scripture. But at 17, God reveals his future to him. Remarkable, isn't it? What his future was going to be.

And the story of his life was going to be nothing but trials to get there. You know, he would be sold into slavery by his own brothers, his own siblings. He would be, as we know, sold to the Ishmaelites. They, of course, would have had a caravan going through that area, and they were sold to the Ishmaelites, who sold him to Potiphar of Egypt, who was apparently a high muckety-muck down there dealing with the Pharaoh. So he had a, you know, his master was quite influential in Egypt.

And he became basically the chief steward to Potiphar because Joseph was a remarkable young man, very organized, apparently. And very impressive, very good-looking from what we read in the story. And so he became basically the head of the house. He took care of everything in the household of Potiphar. And this Potiphar, his master, had apparently a wife whose eyes were attracted to this young man, Joseph. You know, he would have been, you know, 17 years of age or so, apparently a very muscular individual. And by the way, it's kind of interesting. According to the Jewish tradition, Jacob and Joseph looked a lot alike.

Looked a lot alike. In fact, Jacob and Abraham looked a lot alike, according to Jewish...

...history about that particular thing. But apparently a very... Joseph, a very handsome man. And like to say, Potiphar's wife had eyes for him. And when she approached him, he rejected her because of what Potiphar had entrusted him with. Besides, he wanted to live a godly kind of life. Apparently, this not only happened once, but a number of times. And eventually, as we know, he... she grasped him. And he ran. And she took a part of his apparel, apparently, in the process. And she cried out, rape. And so Joseph ends up in prison. Can you imagine again for a 17-year-old boy ending up in prison? Now, apparently, this prison was not a typical prison. I mean, if you were a typical prison, it might be... ...in those ancient times, it would have been an assault mine somewhere. Might have been some sort of mine where you're down in the... in the... in the dregs of society. But this was a prison where, in fact, those that were even used by Pharaoh might be thrown into it. We have those kind of prisons today, don't we? And, you know, a lot of those prisons are not as bad. But... but prison, no matter what it is, is bad. Very bad. But of all things, here this young man who had excelled in Pottersburg's house also, in the prison, excelled with the... ...you know, he was the warden, became, I guess, the... the wooden right-hand man. And, you know, Joseph was such a diligent person that pretty soon he was running the prison.

And, you know, I guess the... the warden must have had... he had a very nice lifestyle at that particular point. Well, in the course of time, two of the stewards of the Pharaoh were thrown into jail. One was a baker, as we know, in the story, in the account, and the other was a butler. And it just so happened that both of them had dreams about their future. Interesting that Joseph was given a dream about his future. These... the baker and the... and the butler were given dreams about their future. And it just so happened that, you know, Joseph was one who had been shown about visions of God. He knew that interpretations of visions came from God. And the baker and the butler told him these dreams.

And... and young Joseph was able to interpret the dreams. And what occurred with the baker is basically the dream revealed that he was going to be put to death.

But in the course of the butler, the butler was going to be raised back, and he would go back and he would serve the Pharaoh wine. As we know the story in the account, it occurs. As you may remember also that Joseph said, well, you know, remember me. I'm in this place. And as most people would, he forgot about, you know, Joseph who had interpreted his dream until God caused the Pharaoh to see his future. And we know that he saw again the seven lean cows and the seven fat cow, you know, dream. And none of those that were in his realm could interpret it. And the butler said, oh, I just happen to remember. You know, this young man who gave me an interpretation of a dream, and as he gave the interpretation, it came to pass. And so the Pharaoh wanted to talk to this young man. And we know he interpreted the king's dream that there would be seven lean years, that there would be, you know, seven lean years. But before that, there would be seven fat years, and that there was time to prepare for the seven lean years. Now, I, you know, here in all of this time, by the way, has gone by, and Joseph then has raised his second in command in Egypt. And so that's basically a synopsis of the history of Joseph.

But he was not. The Bible says, let's go over there to Genesis 41. Just kind of give you the time frame over here. In Genesis 41, and down in verse 46, 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. And now, as the seven plentiful years, the ground brought forth abundantly. And so he began the project of basically saving Egypt and many people surrounding, including his own family. But think about this here. Thirteen years have passed. Does God do things immediately? No, He doesn't, does He? Did Joseph learn anything? Oh, I bet he learned tons of things. He was probably very quickly educated in prison, especially. And he probably learned many things of what he did not want to do in the prison.

But Joseph would be given a rulership. And think about the fact, he was thirty, you know, when he became second to the Pharaoh, and he lived to be a hundred and ten years old.

A hundred and ten. Do the math, brethren. Do the math. You know, that's eighty years. Eighty years of his life. And before that, I mean, if you start when he's seventeen, you know, you're looking at what? Ninety-three years he was about the business of obeying God in his life. He says, your calling's got long, brethren. And we know that one thing happened is that Joseph's bones were carried out, you know, of the land of Egypt. And not only, brethren, did this happen to Joseph, but it happened to his dad as well. His dad, his father, Jacob, or Israel, as his name was changed. Let's go over to chapter 47. The interesting statement here, my wife and I talked about this particular statement. A number of times. But here, Joseph is going to introduce his, you know, father to Pharaoh. And notice chapter 47 and down in verse 7. And then Joseph brought his father Jacob and sent him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, how old are you anyway? How old are you? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Does God do things immediately? No, he doesn't, does he? And he says, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Few and evil. He lived again to be an old, old man. And he sang few and evil. Now, I am sure that there was a time where there were bad things that happened and maybe Jacob did bad things. But this word evil, by the way, if you look it up in the Hebrew, basically it can be translated calamity or trials. Few and trials, he could have said, have been my years. Does God do things immediately? No, he doesn't. It involves time, brethren. It involves time.

And we know in this story, in the account, by the way, that he says, Here also, and they have not attained of the days, he said, of the years of the life of my fathers and the days of their pilgrims. He didn't compare. He didn't hold a candle to Noah. He didn't hold a candle to Shem! Or Abraham himself, who lived to be up in his upper, near around 175, I think, in his life, lived a long time. Now, don't quote me on that, but I believe Abraham lived to be 175 years of age. But, brethren, that's the story of life. It is a roller coaster, isn't it? It's a time of trials and calamities that come to us in our lives and troubles. And all that time, God is wanting us to build character, to get right with God. What does it mean to be right with God? It has to do with your character. What is on the inside? Now, how about the example of Moses? Moses, in Israel itself? God made these promises to Abraham, by the way. He was going to make him into a great people. The nations were going to come out of him. The kings were going to come out of him. How long did it take before it came to the point where even enough of his descendants even have nations?

Well, when Israel came out of Egypt, they weren't multiple nations at that time. They were multiple tribes. But it was over 400 years before God fulfilled that promise that we were looking at from that standpoint.

That the tribes had come out. Of course, today we have the world that has changed sort of matically. That those tribes have indeed become nations. And they are, of course, the lost ten tribes of Israel. But the world doesn't even know where they are. The world has no concept that we in this country are Manassites. The world has no concept that Ephraim has, of course, Britain. The son used to never sit on the British Empire, you know, and the king of Israel. That throne, of course, that is there that is occupied. Soon, probably, he's going to be occupied by Charles. Or his son, William, is a fulfillment of promises that God made to David a long time ago. But think about it, then, the time that goes by. Think about Moses. When God called him, how old was he?

80 years old, right? 80 years old.

How long did he leave Israel? 40 years. 40 years. Lived a long time. And again, there's that number 40 again. So, then I gave wonders in the church. Oh, I wish it was true. I wish, brethren, you'd be called yesterday and today you'd be in the kingdom. You know, I'm sure that there are those that are going to be in the kingdom that maybe didn't put them 40 years, but I don't think it's going to be further than any. By and large, I think, it's going to be the few that are going to be there. And why did God make Israel? Well, I've been in the waters for 40 years. Let's notice here, Deuteronomy chapter 8. It's not because God doesn't want to ask directions. And, really, he doesn't need a GPS, does he? He doesn't need a zip code. Now, what is the zip code of the land of Canaan? Oh, whoops, I don't have one. But notice here, Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 1, every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe. This is what Israel was told, careful to observe. That you may live and multiply and go in the possessive land of which the Etyus were to your fathers.

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness. Why did he do that? Why did he do that? Why does he have to go through such horrendous things? I mean, the water, and the lack of food, and all of that. He says to humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. So, God could say to those who were under the waters, now I know. Now I know. Now I know. You have people like Joshua, who is a tremendous example. But God knew about it. But he wandered in the wilderness and he ruled Israel, too. And so his years were a long time, weren't they? But God tried and tested him. The fact of the matter is, brethren, that God is working in you and me to put in us His holy righteous character, and He's not going to be rushed. No big rush for it. But the goal is what we're being brought to. Like He brought Israel to the Promised Land, the goal is to, in between, go on and arriving to the Promised Land. The goal is to build a certain character. And, of course, by the time Israel came into the Promised Land, they were indeed a different kind of people, weren't they? Than from when they left Egypt. And I dare say, brethren, that every one of us who had been called into the church were different people than we were from when we were first called. I certainly hope so. I certainly hope so. That we are different people altogether. Well, so God had taught Israel through trials and difficulties, through their roller coaster, and that roller coaster, that howling willingness, just as He taught Moses, just as He had taught Joseph and Abraham and all the paparazzi before Him, He had to teach them through trials and testing to have patience, to build that holy character that was necessary.

You know, this is why, brethren, we face our calling over the long haul. It's not what you do today. It's what you'll be doing in 20 years, or 30 years, or 40 years. Although, again, all of it pieced together and makes up our life, doesn't it? But what was the goal for Israel? Eventually, you know, that period of time between, you know, the time of, I mentioned, a trial and testing, that 40 years, that period of time, was to bring them to the Promised Land, to bring them out into the Promised Land. And they were for us, for us, too. That's the goal. But to arrive into the Promised Land lacking nothing, lacking nothing. In fact, you read on down through here, notice on down through here, in verse 3, So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, He fed you with manner which you did not know, nor did your fathers know. Did He might make you know that men are not led by their own, but men are led by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He said, Your garnish did not wear out. Imagine this, if you could have done it like this.

I bet garnish like that, by the way, in my closet. My wife tries to throw them away, but, you know, if you ever like these things that have handles on them, you know, I said, I tell you, you know, it's good to have that aeration. But it's hard to get rid of things, isn't it? But God hasn't kept my garnish going like that. But again, we see the message all through here. Even though God allowed Israel to fall down, even though it allowed them to go through a horrendous trial, brethren, He was always there. He was always there. Even though Israel was like this tumbling eglet whose mother had let the eglet go from her talents, tumbling down to her death, the eglet was always taken care of because the mother was there to secure the safety, and God was always there for Israel. Just, brethren, is God is always there for us. Look the way God looks at things. Peter said, but do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.

Have you ever done the math on that, brethren?

If one day is a thousand years, then that means that one hour with God is four years. Look, I just said, well, you're in the roof an hour. Could you not do that? So if you say to God, give me a minute, you know, give me a minute, you know what you're saying to God? You're saying, give me eight days. No, actually, yeah, a minute is eight days. If you want to, you could do a second if you want to. Divide eight days by sixty. You kind of come up with how long that is. You got a second, God? Yeah, I got a second for you. You can talk to God for a half hour, or whatever length of time that you want to talk to your Creator God. Like you said, God is not in a hurry. He really is in a hurry. He's got plenty of time. His ears hear all of us. You know, do you know how He does that? I don't know how He does that. But He has got some fancy ears, I'll tell you that. You know, with sickness and other types of trials that we go through, brethren, again, I know we think, well, you know, we need some excitement here from God that God would intervene and He would stop this immediately. Well, God is in no hurry. He can do it at any time He desires to do it. You know, oftentimes, little children are in the back seat, usually asking parents, what do little children do when they're sitting in the back seat? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? And after a while, you get tired of hearing, are we there yet? Because they do that all the way.

Let's go to Revelation 6. Revelation 6. Again, it seems to be in the fiber of the human makeup, the nature that we have that we are impatient. And God says, I'm sorry, you're going to have to get rid of that impatience. Why? Because that's not the way I am. And I'm making you a myronage. I'm reproducing myself. Revelation 6 over here, we know it's the seals being opened here. I'm not my purpose to go through the seals of the book of Revelation. But notice down here, verse 9, that when you'd opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, are we there yet?

No, they cried, how long, O Lord, hold unto a new judge, and avenge our blood on those who dwell on earth? How long, God? How long is this going out the door? And it says, their white words were given to each of them. It was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the member of their fellow servants and the brethren who would be killed, as they were, was completed. But God was done. Well, it was completed. But you see here again with those who've been martyred. You know, they had that mentality of, is it, are we there yet? Of course, this is a figurative thing because the dead know not anything, as the Bible says.

But brethren, trials, trials, even death, is a move toward completion so that we lack nothing in our lives. I commented just to you before that when I was in a hospital, and I had a lot of things thrown at me, at that time my wife and I were going through some horrible trials in our lives. And the thing that God put in my mind that got me through, a lot of it was, don't think it's strange when you go through a fiery trial. Because when we put that in my mind, and believe the Spirit of God brought it to my mind at that time, I needed some comfort, and that comforted me. Because also, an addendum to that is I knew if I was going through a fiery trial, it'd be delivered from it. And indeed, he did. He delivered me from that in a very big lesson. But, you know, whatever we go through, even if we go up to death, I know of a gentleman, by the way, who was dying of cancer. Someone asked him what he was thinking about, what were his thoughts when he had this terrible cancer. And his answer was this. He said, my goal is if I'm going to die. He said to die with dignity in a godly way.

And I think that's the perfect attitude for this particular gentleman. You know, in my book, it's certainly a saint in a way he'll retire in the Great Resurrection. With some dying from martyrdom, some old age, some of sickness, and worse yet, living. Sometimes to live is more of a difficulty than to die. You two have to live the rest of your life and go through trials that we often do have to go through. Like I say, with people, a lot of times if you ask them, if they die, would they like to come back and say, absolutely not.

I'm going to wait until the time of the resurrection. Let's go to James chapter 1 over here again. James chapter 1, where we began this. But in James chapter 1 and verse 4, but here, James is saying to us, brethren, he's employing us here, but let patience have its perfect work.

Let patience have its perfect work. Are you, at lay, patience have its perfect work in you, brethren? Through all the trials you go through, are you keeping on keeping on? Are you obedient? And are you enduring again in obedience and turning in? But notice he says that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. You don't want to go again to your grave lacking anything. That's not the time to be lacking things.

And obviously, all of us have a ways to go before we're ready for that. You know, Barnes notes says this about this particular verse. Let it be fairly developed. Let it produce its appropriate effects without being hindered. Don't hinder the impact of whatever trial you're going through. Let it not be obstructed in the fair influence on the soul and us, by mermaids, complaining, and rebellion. You know, you should be shaking a fist in God's face and saying, God, why don't you enter for me? You're getting angry with God. That's not the way you get yourself in a lot of trouble with that mentality. Barnes goes on, patience under trials is fitted to produce important effects on the soul. And we are not to hinder them in any manner by perverse spirit, perverse attitude, wrong attitudes, or by opposition to the will of God. Everyone who is afflicted shall, or should, desire that the fair effects of affliction should be produced on his mind, or that there should be produced in their soul precisely the results which his trials are adapted to accomplish.

Suppose you don't know what the trial is supposed to teach you, by the way. But you have to trust God that there was something that you learned from him. You know, if you don't fully see what it is. And Barnes goes on to say that you may be perfect and entire.

The meaning of this is in the following phrase, wanting nothing, lacking nothing. That is, that there may be nothing lacking to complete your character. Nothing. Then you're completed. That just as Adam, when it was created, was completed physically, but he was not all there, that that lacking has been filled.

And you're ready, again, to be then changed out of this mental immortality.

So, brethren, we need patience to allow God to complete this task, this work in us, from His Spirit. We're like a cake, that, you know, the baker is baking, but it's not completed until you take it out, and we put the icing on the cake. You put all the things on it, and the baker has done. He's completed. There's a Philippians says over there that we can be confident of this very thing. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. If you and I allow that to be the case, brethren, that if we do not, you know, intercede, if we do not thwart that God is doing for us, brethren, God will do it in us. You can be confident of that. There where you and I can lose out, brethren, is if we do not endure, if we give up, we throw in the towel. We have to keep on keeping on. On down here in verse 12, notice this of James. It says, The vessel is a man who endures contention, or trials, or difficulties. For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown it says of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. I encourage you, by the way, to read the other Scriptures here above this. But what God says, He wants a people that are resolute, that have faith in Him, and trust in Him. Now, when I was looking at this topic, by the way, I found it quite interesting. As you know, what happened with ancient Israel is going to be repeated in another way in the future. Just as God pulled Israel out of Egypt, and He said He bore them out on the wings of an eagle, it is interesting what God says in the end of the age. And I never thought about it in these terms, and perhaps it is not what the Scriptures intended. But I wanted to at least mention this in closing comments about this topic here, over in Revelation 12. What's this over here? What it says? In Revelation 12, here it's talking about, as we have said many times, that eventually God's people, God's true people, are going to be taken out in all of the spiritual Egypt of the world, and to a place of safety. To her places, the Bible actually says, and we know in Revelation also it says that the women has made herself ready. The church has made herself ready. And, of course, what we have available to us is far, you know, outshines what God made available to our children. Now only do we have the letters of the law, but we have the Spirit of the law. Not only do we have that, but we have the Holy Spirit itself. And we're being molded and shaped into the very image of Jesus Christ, with that holy righteous character being built. But let's notice here in Revelation 12, verse 14.

But it says, but the woman was given two wings, in the sense of a great eagle. Given two wings of a great eagle.

The woman again is the church.

Who is the church? You are the church. You are the church. Maybe, brethren, just maybe, you and I are not like that little tumbling fuzzball of an eagle. But the mother releases from her talons, brethren. But maybe we'll learn the time when we are ready to fly.

And I thought when I read this verse, it says that the woman was given two wings of a great eagle. Maybe God wants here to devote that the church has become a bit more mature. It doesn't have to be carried on the back of the mother eagle, as it were. But maybe he is about ready to fly. And think about this, when the church gets to this particular point, we are already ready to fly. Maybe it's a few years away, in fact.

And of course, the wings here, we're talking about the eagle's wings. And over in the Old Testament it says that God says, I brought you to Myself. And I know Mr. Whitehouse used to talk about the place of safety as a place of final training. That maybe we'll be taught of God in an indirect way through angels, or however He will do it in that three and a half year period. To put the finishing touches on so that we lack nothing. So, brethren, patience is everything. Patience is everything. And the inequality, brethren, we need absolutely a key ingredient. So we lack nothing so that we can attain perfection, brethren, is patience with our God.

And God is like that mother eagle. And it may sometimes seem like that God has dropped us. And we're tumbling down. But realize this. This is the mother eagle, shoots down and rescues her tumbling baby with her outstretched wings. God is always there for us.

And the time will come, even if again Revelation 12, 14 is not what is depicted here. The time will come that God will give us wings, as it were. And I mean this in a very symbolic manner. When we go through the experiences, when we go through the trials, we have finished this product, and the icing is on the cake, and then we'll be ready, brethren, to fly.

And we'll be like our Father in heaven. So, brethren, let's make sure we're patient enough to get to that time when we're ready to fly. And hopefully it's not too far off.