Lesson Five: The Fruit of Patience

loyal to their faith and piety. The word can also be translated with the words like “perseverance” or

“endurance.” 2. The second word that is used is makrothymia. It literally means “taking long to get hot.” This word reflects the spirit of someone who perseveres patiently in the midst of continuous misfortunes and troubles. In addition, this is a person who remains patient when they receive offenses and injuries from others. The verb form (makrothymeo) is often used to express the way that God responds to those who have rejected Him. It even references the fact that God defers punishing sinners in the hopes of their eventual repentance. 3. More rarely, a New Testament writer will use the word anexikakos. It literally means “holding up under evil.” The idea is “someone who patiently endures wrongdoing towards them.”

God Is Patient

What should be clear to us by now is that all the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 are character traits found in God’s own nature. Because the Spirit of the Lord dwells within believers, these traits of God show up in them as well. God has revealed to us what patience looks like in the way He acts and thinks, and we can imitate Him because we share His nature in Christ. In the Old Testament, God’s patience is reflected in His fairness of judgment towards the sins of His people. We see many examples of this in the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness found in the book of Numbers. In one such passage, we see Moses interceding before God on behalf of the people of Israel and we get an inside view into the patience of God. The background story is that, as the people of Israel begin to approach the Promised Land, Moses sends out twelve spies to take a look and bring back a report on what they find. They come back raving about the wonderful provisions that are available in the land. However, they also report that there were many war-like nations in the region, and even giants. Ten of the spies conclude that the inhabitants are too powerful, and they should not try to possess the land, while the other two spies, Joshua and Caleb, assert that the God of Israel is powerful enough to give them victory. After all, He just used amazing miracles to deliver them from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Unfortunately, the people of Israel fall in line with the majority report which counsels them to abandon their plan of entering into the Promised Land, and so bring down God’s displeasure upon their heads. In response, God tells Moses that He is going to wipe out these hard-headed, faithless people, and start over with a whole new group of chosen ones. Moses pleads for God to have mercy on the people of Israel, even though he agrees that they have continuously complained and groaned about their circumstances throughout their journey. He acknowledges that God has cared for them continually and that they are ungrateful and foolish to continue to doubt God. Nonetheless, he pleads with God to relent from His anger, and to rethink his decision to destroy them. Moses calls upon God’s nature as a merciful and patient God. Listen to how he reminds God to look at Israel from the position of His own nature: “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion… In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.” (Numbers 14:18-9, NIV) God’s patience is shown through being “slow” to become angry, and full of “enduring love” leading to a willingness to forgive sin. This doesn’t mean that the guilty go free from punishment, but it means that if they repent, He will remain in relationship with them.

God’s Patience Means Salvation

What we believe about the nature of God affects the way that we relate to Him. If we think of God as a Being who is ready to strike us down any time that we make a mistake, then our relationship with Him will be characterized more by fear than love. If, on the other hand, our conclusion is that God truly loves human beings, and has our best interests at heart, then we find it far easier to believe that God is doing all in His power to help us in our life circumstances. When we see evil in our world, we don’t conclude that God does not care, but rather that God is waiting to get as many sinners to come “into the fold” as possible before bringing judgment. Peter explains to his readers that God has the “long view” of history, and is in the business of bringing salvation to all those who are lost: “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.” (2 Peter 3:8-10) God’s time frame is much longer than ours, so when we think that God is delaying an answer to His promises, we are not looking at the issue from His transcendent perspective. God might answer our prayer or fulfill His promise 500 years from now, and still be within the framework of “one day” from His point of view. The apparent slowness with which God operates is based on the spiritual results (salvation of souls) that He is hoping to achieve. Judgment will not be delayed forever, but Peter emphasizes that repentance is available so that no one has to perish. Paul likewise tells Timothy, “Jesus Christ came into the world to give salvation to sinners.” He then identifies himself as the worst sinner of the lot, and makes the point that his conversion is evidence of the “perfect patience” of Christ Jesus in saving sinners. (1 Timothy

GROUP NOTE

Question: Do you think of God as patient? Why or why not?

18 | SUSTAIN 1:12-16) To Paul, his conversion is an example of the lengths that Christ will go to bring us to salvation. If God shows patience to such a terrible sinner as himself, then we should have faith that none of us is beyond saving, and that God is patient as he reaches out to us. The fact that God is so patient does not mean that we should delay our response to his calling. We have no way of knowing what our next moment will be like, or when Christ will return, thus removing the opportunity for decision. It does mean that God seeks after the hearts of non-believers, and that He is delaying his wrath and judgment in hopes that more will come to know him. A core belief of Methodism has been the concept of free will – that God will not coerce us into belief; we are free to choose for ourselves. At the same time, Christ Jesus longs for us to come into relationship with him. “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking;” he says; “if you GROUP NOTE hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

Question: What kind of responsibility does God’s patience put on the Church? If God is delaying His final judgment to bring more souls to Christ, what should we be doing?

Patience and Christ’s Return

The yearning for a final resolution to everything is seen in many different ways within scripture. In the Psalms, for example, the righteous but poor and oppressed are called to have patience in the face of persecution and prosperity among evil ones. The distressed people of God are told to wait on the Lord because He knows their situation. They are encouraged to trust in (wait on) God because one day God will bring judgment on those who prosper in their evil ways: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes…For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in [wait upon] the Lord will inherit the land.” (Psalm 37:7-9, NIV) In the New Testament, this general promise of God’s future judgment is tied specifically to the coming of Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus tells his followers that they will experience persecution until his coming but that, “in their patience (endurance)” they will “gain their souls.” (Luke 21:19) Similarly, in Romans 8, Paul reveals that the whole Creation is “groaning” for a makeover, hoping for the day when our final salvation is revealed in Christ. Hope is never based on what we see; it is a product of our faith. “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:25) Our faith requires patience because the end of all things has not yet come. We must believe that there is a world waiting for us after this age that is far better than the present, and it is being prepared for us by Christ. In the meantime, our hope enables us to remain patient until Christ brings it about; thus, hope, faith, and patience are inseparably connected.

Patience and Evangelism

active in working for the Kingdom of God. On the one hand, we see the evil in the world, and we experience the pain and sadness of life, and we want God to fix it right now – we want His wrath to come down on the evildoers of this world. However, Christ in his infinite love delays the “Day of the Lord” so that we can partner with Him to bring about a greater harvest of souls for God. We cannot see Christ visibly in the here and now, so our trust must be based on the Word of God and His promises. The writer of Hebrews tells his readers, “And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrew 6:11-2) In other words, the delay in God’s judgment could tempt us to become “sluggish,” like a sleepy person dragging through their day, or a person who has overeaten and just wants to take a nap. However, the patience we have in trusting the promises of God motivates us to continue to pursue our mission, especially as we meditate on past saints who endured patiently and saw God’s promises fulfilled. Consider the attitude of the young Jesus who was left behind at the Temple because he was hanging out with the priests and rabbis and challenging their knowledge. Remember his answer to his concerned mother: “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49) Jesus was only 12 years old when he said this. Although his public ministry did not begin for another 18 years, he clearly saw it as his job to patiently prepare himself for God’s calling on his life. Shouldn’t we imitate him – behind the scenes, while there is time, preparing for the age to come by patiently working to bring in the harvest of souls all around us? Similarly, Paul cautions the Thessalonians to stay away from “idle” believers, and offers the example of his own hard work. “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you…On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.” (1 Thessalonians 3:6-9) Our calling as believers is not to sit idly speculating about when Jesus will return, but to be busy working on behalf of the Kingdom of God while there is time, and to be patient as we wait for the coming of God’s Kingdom here on earth. James likens it to the farmer waiting for his crop to grow up. Just as it takes early and later rains to ensure the harvest ripening, and the farmer must wait on them to come, so we must be patient and expectant, and have faith that the Lord will soon return. (James 5:7-8) The rains are God’s part; the sowing and the reaping are ours. Like Jesus, we must see that “the fields are white to the Harvest, and the workers are few.” (John 4:35)

We have seen that patience is part of God’s character, and it frames the big picture of our evangelistic mission until Jesus returns. Now, let’s shift our focus to the day-to-day function of patience within the local church, the expression of the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul expected the churches connected to him to have patience as a primary characteristic. In particular, church leaders must show patience toward the young, immature believers, to unify the Church. Paul instructs the Ephesians that, as they put off their old, pagan way of life and put on their new life in Christ, they will mature into a life “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2) The earliest copies of the New Testament in Greek had no punctuation, so the comma between “patience” and “bearing with” one another is inserted by the translator to help us make sense of it. However, we could equally translate it “bearing with one another with patience.” In other words, put up with others as long as it takes for them to mature. Sometimes those in the Church with more Bible knowledge think they show maturity by demanding that others catch up with them. But Paul is showing the opposite: The truly mature are those who are able to patiently instruct those who are slower or weaker. The end result of this patience is that the body of believers, from the weak to the strong, are bound up together in unity. We are followers of “one Lord;” we have “one faith;” we experience “one baptism;” and we serve “one God, who is above all, and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:5) What a great challenge Paul gives to those of us who have been working at our faith for decades – it is not all about us; it is about the body of believers as a whole, and our unity under the power of the Lord. Paul likewise encourages the mature among the Thessalonians: “And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) He says the same to the Galatians: “If anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.” (Galatians 6:1) This is a teaching worth noting. How often do we, as mature Christ-followers, find ourselves irritated and impatient with young believers who seem to run from one crisis to another? Though we have likely found ourselves in positions of rebellion at some point in our own lives, when we are older in the faith, we sometimes give ourselves more credit than we deserve. Here Paul reminds us not to get too big for our britches – the most important thing that we can do is raise up the next generation into maturity and, eventually, leadership. At the same time, he uses the word “admonish” to describe how we deal with these individuals. This tells us that it is possible to take a strong stand with people while also patiently building them up. We need only add that this cannot be done without first establishing a loving relationship with them. Paul counsels Timothy to be confront wayward believers: “Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage;” but he is to do this “with the utmost patience in teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2) Remember the third Greek word for patience, anexikakos? Paul uses it in this letter to warn Timothy that he shouldn’t be “quarrelsome,” but, rather, a good teacher, who is “patient” (anexikakon, holding up in the face of evil or opposition), correcting even his opponents with gentleness.

Patience as a Trait

We have seen patience as a trait of God, of the Church as a whole, and of spiritual leaders; now let’s look at patience as a character trait of the individual believer. As noted earlier, the Fruit of the Spirit should begin to mark the very nature of the Spirit-filled Christian. As we continue to grow in our faith, each of the fruit will begin to blossom and ripen and become more visible in the everyday experiences of our lives. But, how does this character trait of patience show up in a person’s life? Paul tells the Colossian believers to choose, as an act of their will, to “clothe” themselves with a number of spiritual traits, including patience. “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12) He fleshes this out in this way: “Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (3:13) The patient person will show forbearance and forgiveness, because that is how God treated them—not how they deserve, but out of love and mercy. Every time that we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say those very words: “forgive us our trespasses (sins) as we forgive those who have trespassed (sinned) against us.” (Matthew 6:12 KJV) In the so-called “Love Chapter” (I Corinthians 13), Paul links patience with genuine love. “Love is patient and kind.” (13:4) He goes on to say, “love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (13:4-7) Although describing love, these traits are arguably the ways that we demonstrate patience. Patience is how love works over time. So, we see here that patience is indeed one of the primary fruits found in the Spirit-filled life. It is intimately intertwined with all traits that bind the body of believers together in love. Patience is not only to be the way that you and I learn to live every day, but it is the attitude that we need to take as we try to help others grow up in the faith. Thus, the challenge is to grow the body of believers up into maturity – challenging them, confronting them, being patient with them.

GROUP NOTE

Question: How are we able to challenge believers who need to grow in maturity, but don’t seem to be making any movement in that direction? Is this the role of the leadership of the church, or is it the responsibility of the members to seek out the less mature to mentor?

20 | SUSTAIN Paul’s closing words to the church at Rome pulls all these thoughts together. He writes, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness [patience] and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness [patience] and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:4-6) Here we have all the dynamics of our study linked together. In the first line patience is linked with scripture and hope, and then patience and encouragement are linked to lead us to unity together under Christ. All of this comes together for the one purpose of glorifying the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. May this become a reality in the Church!!

APPLICATION IDEA: Imagine yourself in the future after the return of Christ. All of your day-to-day irritations have ended, and all of your tears of sorrow have been wiped away from your eyes. All evil has been judged, and nothing remains but unending joy in the presence of God. From this future vantage point, ask yourself: Who do you want to be with you on that day? What are you doing now to reach others with the good news of Christ so that they can repent of their sins and enter into the joy of the Lord? How are you, as a mature Christian, patiently instructing and encouraging younger Christians so that they, too, will bear fruit for God’s eternal harvest? Finally, ask yourself how this eternal perspective on what really matters in life might change your moment-by-moment attitude towards the little things in life that tend to make you impatient. Then ask the Holy Spirit to renew the fruit of patience in you, as it is in Christ!

Look for Part 2 of our study, covering the remaining fruit of the spirit, coming soon at frazer.church/sustain.