WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:06.019 Long -suffering also translated patience, but 00:00:06.019 --> 00:00:10.560 I feel like is most descriptive as long -suffering 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:16.980 which is suffering long. Patience is putting 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:21.760 up with something longer than we want to. Sometimes 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:26.320 we call it forbearance. To look at this we are 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:32.899 gonna use James chapter 1. James 1 verse 2 says, 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.020 my brethren counted all joy when you fall into 00:00:36.020 --> 00:00:41.259 diverse temptations. He starts out with an endearment, 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:46.759 my brethren. When you happen upon different temptations, 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:53.320 look at it as an opportunity. That's not generally 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:58.189 how we look at it. He continues knowing this 00:00:58.189 --> 00:01:02.229 that the trying of your faith worketh patience 00:01:02.229 --> 00:01:06.629 Because it's the testing of our faith that brings 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:12.150 forth or produces patience When you are really 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:16.170 struggling with something We need to look at 00:01:16.170 --> 00:01:20.000 it as a workout We need to look at it as an exercise. 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:24.340 We need to look at it as an opportunity to bring 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:28.219 forth fruit, to perfect something in our life. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:31.519 There's a joke among Christians. Don't pray for 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:33.879 patience because bad things are going to happen 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:38.140 to you. This is rooted in truth. And a joke is 00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:41.620 one thing, but some elder Christians actually 00:01:41.620 --> 00:01:45.140 advise against praying for patience. This is 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:49.239 very bad advice. We shouldn't avoid doing hard 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:53.219 things because we enjoy pleasure, because we're 00:01:53.219 --> 00:01:57.280 trying to avoid discomfort or pain. In contrast, 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.900 James says in verse four, but let patience have 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:04.840 her perfect work, that you may be perfect and 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:10.099 entire wanting nothing. You want patience because 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:12.599 you will be mature and whole. That's what that 00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:16.000 perfect there means. Mature and whole. Lacking 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:18.919 nothing. There's a lot of talk right now about 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:22.520 being a whole person. Someone who has recovered 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.240 from all their trauma. There's this underlying 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:27.860 assumption that difficult things shouldn't happen 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:31.620 to us. But James is saying there is opportunity 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:36.599 in difficult things. In temptations. In adversity. 00:02:37.909 --> 00:02:42.009 he says in verse 5 if any of you lack wisdom 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:46.590 let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally 00:02:46.590 --> 00:02:51.009 and abradeth not and it shall be given him. Here 00:02:51.009 --> 00:02:55.409 we find the key to this perfecting work the wisdom 00:02:55.409 --> 00:02:58.509 of God. How do we deal with difficult people? 00:02:58.750 --> 00:03:03.009 We ask God, how do I deal with my desire for 00:03:03.009 --> 00:03:06.189 things God is asking me to turn away from? I 00:03:06.189 --> 00:03:09.770 ask God, how do I deal with my bad attitude? 00:03:10.009 --> 00:03:13.509 Ask God for wisdom. I have a friend who said 00:03:13.509 --> 00:03:16.349 recently, you know, the cliched advice to pray 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:19.349 about it and read the word, it's cliched because 00:03:19.349 --> 00:03:24.150 it works. It is always the answer. It only sounds 00:03:24.150 --> 00:03:29.849 cliched. Verse six says but let him ask in faith 00:03:29.849 --> 00:03:33.129 Nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like 00:03:33.129 --> 00:03:36.030 a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed 00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:39.770 For let not that man think that he shall receive 00:03:39.770 --> 00:03:43.889 anything of the Lord We ask God for help for 00:03:43.889 --> 00:03:47.030 wisdom But then sometimes we don't really want 00:03:47.030 --> 00:03:49.169 the answer or we really don't think that God 00:03:49.169 --> 00:03:52.530 is going to answer It's kind of like asking God 00:03:52.530 --> 00:03:55.699 to heal my headache as I head to the medicine 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:58.020 cabinet and take a pill. Did God heal the headache? 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:01.719 Well, I don't know. I took a pill. What I'm trying 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.939 to say is we don't wait for the answer. We start 00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:07.639 trying to fix it. We start trying to do things 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:10.580 instead of waiting for the wisdom that we've 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:14.580 asked for. And James says a double -minded man 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:17.879 is unstable in all his ways. When we do that, 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:21.879 we're being double -minded. Verse 9 he says, 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:25.220 let the brother of low degree rejoice that he 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:29.740 is exalted. So brother James's first advice is 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:33.519 to ask God for wisdom. His second piece of advice 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:37.500 is saying find the bright side of your situation 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:40.680 Praise God my status in life is not good But 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.240 God sees me and he's called me to be a king and 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:46.759 a priest verse 10 But the rich in that he is 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:49.360 made low because as the flower of the grass he 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.060 shall pass away Praise God I have everything 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:54.720 I need but I know this life is not forever and 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:59.120 I may not be in this good situation forever find 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:03.980 the bright side find the leveling side verse 00:05:03.980 --> 00:05:07.180 11 for the sun is no sooner risen with a burning 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:10.079 heat but it withereth the grass and the flower 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:13.100 thereof falleth and the grace of the fashion 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:16.879 of its pair of it perisheth so also shall the 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:21.579 rich man fade away in his ways right it's not 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:25.540 forever blessed is the man that endureth temptation 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:29.879 what That's that patience. That's that long suffering. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:34.680 Enduring a long time. For when he is tried he 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.300 shall receive the crown of life which the Lord 00:05:37.300 --> 00:05:39.939 hath promised to them that love him James goes 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:43.420 on to say that there is reward for enduring temptation 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:46.620 We shall receive a crown of life and he's drawing 00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:49.399 a parallel to the laurel crown given to athletes 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:53.579 When they won races at that time, but this crown 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:56.720 that God gives is eternal It's incorruptible 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.980 if you don't race you can't win you can't achieve 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:06.540 Many of us are happy just not to achieve. We're 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:09.959 a culture of underachievers. We would just rather 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:13.500 not feel pain. We would rather just not be uncomfortable. 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:18.180 But God desires that we accomplish something. 00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:22.629 Verse 13 says, Let no man say when he is tempted, 00:06:22.889 --> 00:06:26.029 I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted 00:06:26.029 --> 00:06:29.269 with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every 00:06:29.269 --> 00:06:31.790 man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own 00:06:31.790 --> 00:06:34.949 lust and enticed. This is an important teaching. 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:38.970 This is a foundational doctrine. God will not 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:41.209 put something evil in front of you to see if 00:06:41.209 --> 00:06:45.069 you will slip. We are drawn to evil on our own. 00:06:45.529 --> 00:06:49.670 We have desires and they draw us away from the 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:53.730 Lord. He continues, then when lust has conceived 00:06:53.730 --> 00:06:56.689 it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished 00:06:56.689 --> 00:07:01.129 bringeth forth death. The wages of sin is death. 00:07:01.550 --> 00:07:06.339 God gives us a choice free will. It is that gift 00:07:06.339 --> 00:07:10.139 to obey and love him or not that also gives us 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:12.819 the option to walk away after our own desires. 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:17.920 Our desires bring death, our flesh covets, and 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:24.240 we walk in our own way. James says, do not err, 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:28.079 my beloved brethren. He's using that term of 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:32.360 endearment again. He is warning us again because 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:39.180 he loves us as family. Every good and every perfect 00:07:39.180 --> 00:07:41.980 gift is from above and cometh down from the father 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:45.399 of lights with whom is no variableness neither 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:49.680 shadow of turning of his own will begat he us 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.779 with the word of truth and we should be a kind 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:56.439 of first fruits of his creatures. He warns us 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:00.259 to watch for error in our thinking. We must understand 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:03.439 that every good thing comes from God. Everything 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.519 that is perfect comes from God. The opportunity 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:12.040 to be perfected is a gift from God. The ability 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:17.939 to develop patience is a gift from God. Wherefore 00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:20.699 my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:24.759 hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Here 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:28.699 is us practicing patience. This is the practical 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:34.659 guide. How do I be more patient? Be quick to 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:39.299 hear what someone is saying to us. Be quick to 00:08:39.299 --> 00:08:43.620 understand their point of view. But be slow in 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:48.620 responding to what we're hearing. And be cautious 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:53.600 when becoming angry. Easier said than done to 00:08:53.600 --> 00:09:01.600 slow our response time down. So difficult to 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.639 discipline ourselves to slow our response time 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:09.600 down. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.440 of God. When we're angry in our flesh, God is 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:15.120 not glorified. People are not drawn closer to 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:19.980 him. We aren't drawn closer to him. It's not 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:25.320 helpful. wherefore lay apart all filthiness and 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:28.759 superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.419 the engrafted word that is able to save your 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:40.759 souls honestly when we lay aside super Filthiness 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:42.879 and superfluity of naughtiness. Okay, that is 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:46.259 a great King James phrase. Filthiness, things 00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:48.539 that are unclean. But superfluity, what is that? 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:53.659 It's an overabundance. It's an overflowing of 00:09:53.659 --> 00:09:59.720 naughtiness, so things that are not right. When 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:04.860 we don't have those things going on, we are much 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:10.360 more able to respond well. He's saying lay apart 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:13.519 those things when we're not scrolling, when we're 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.480 not watching things, when we're not reading things, 00:10:16.779 --> 00:10:19.279 when we are not entertaining our thought life 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:23.580 with things that are unclean, it is easier to 00:10:23.580 --> 00:10:27.100 respond with patience. It is harder when you 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:32.559 look up from whatever that is that is not lovely 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:36.860 and pure and excellent and a good report. It's 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:38.539 hard when we're looking at that thing to look 00:10:38.539 --> 00:10:41.399 up and respond with patience, to not respond 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:43.879 with anger. One, because we're disappointed in 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.159 our own selves for what we're doing in the moment 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:49.720 and we don't and we're irritated that life is 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:52.700 not working without us, our family's not working 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:55.460 without us, our job isn't working without us. 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.470 And two, because We don't have good reservoir. 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:03.909 We don't have good well water to draw from. We 00:11:03.909 --> 00:11:06.970 just, we're double -minded. We don't have the 00:11:06.970 --> 00:11:11.309 stability that we would have when we're doing 00:11:11.309 --> 00:11:14.909 things that are pure and lovely and of good report 00:11:14.909 --> 00:11:20.570 that are honest. And he continues, but be ye 00:11:20.570 --> 00:11:23.750 doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving 00:11:23.750 --> 00:11:26.070 your own selves. I feel like this is the crux 00:11:26.070 --> 00:11:31.759 of what he s - talking about. Okay, the crux 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:36.179 of wisdom in general, self deception. We always 00:11:36.179 --> 00:11:40.620 have a reason why we can disobey. We always have 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:44.440 a reason why things don't apply to us. But real, 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.129 we are really only lying to ourselves. We're 00:11:48.129 --> 00:11:51.629 dishonest in our motives. We are only tricking 00:11:51.629 --> 00:11:55.330 ourselves. We are deceiving ourselves God isn't 00:11:55.330 --> 00:11:58.309 convinced most of the people who watch us aren't 00:11:58.309 --> 00:12:01.750 convinced either When we hear the word and we 00:12:01.750 --> 00:12:08.120 don't do the word we are being disobedient 23. 00:12:08.299 --> 00:12:10.879 For if any be a hearer of the word and not a 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:13.539 doer, he is likened to a man beholding his natural 00:12:13.539 --> 00:12:17.059 face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and 00:12:17.059 --> 00:12:20.120 goes away, and straight forward forgets what 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:23.899 manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:27.080 perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:30.679 he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:33.659 the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 00:12:34.629 --> 00:12:37.929 For a long time, over my mantle, I had a mirror 00:12:37.929 --> 00:12:42.230 that had the word truth written on it. It was 00:12:42.230 --> 00:12:46.230 to remind me of this verse. When the word tells 00:12:46.230 --> 00:12:48.870 me something is wrong, I need to remember that 00:12:48.870 --> 00:12:52.350 and fix it. Just like the mirror shows me what 00:12:52.350 --> 00:12:56.169 I need to wash off or adjust, like maybe there's 00:12:56.169 --> 00:12:59.929 some spaghetti sauce on my face, I can think 00:12:59.929 --> 00:13:02.269 I don't have anything on my face or drip down 00:13:02.269 --> 00:13:05.360 the front of my shirt. but the mirror tells me 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:09.580 the truth and this is what God's word does. The 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:13.879 mirror shows us the truth. My husband when he 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.480 preaches he always says I can look in the mirror 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.440 and think I'm a buck fifty but I look in the 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:25.600 mirror and I am not a 25 year old at 150 pounds 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.159 any longer and so for that reason I avoid the 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:32.620 mirror. He says we don't want to take pictures. 00:13:32.909 --> 00:13:35.289 Because when we look at a picture, it tells us 00:13:35.289 --> 00:13:40.649 the truth. It shows us where we are at. And this 00:13:40.649 --> 00:13:43.490 is how it is with the Word of God. When we hear 00:13:43.490 --> 00:13:47.090 it and we don't do it, we are just deceiving 00:13:47.090 --> 00:13:53.679 ourselves. We are ignoring what we saw. 26. If 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.320 any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleeth 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:00.399 not his tongue, but deceiveeth his own heart, 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:03.519 this man's religion is in vain. Here's that self 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:07.039 -deception again. Whatever is coming out of your 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:14.399 mouth is truth. Whatever you're saying, whatever 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:18.860 your actions are, that's truth. That shows the 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:23.080 place of your heart. And the only person you're 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:27.779 deceiving is yourself. And your religion is empty. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:32.659 It's vain. How many times have we become inpatient? 00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:36.940 We didn't suffer long. We just let our tongue 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:41.259 rip. God says our religion is vain. This is tough 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:45.019 stuff. That's why you keep saying, beloved, I 00:14:45.019 --> 00:14:49.860 love you. Because he's saying hard things. Pure 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:52.759 religion and undefiled before God and the Father 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:55.820 is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows 00:14:55.820 --> 00:14:59.340 and their affliction and to keep himself unspotted 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:03.700 from the world. And he kind of ends here with 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:09.659 this section. He's saying, here it is, ministering 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:12.820 to the needs of those who are without help and 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:16.519 to overcome our temptations is pure religion. 00:15:18.350 --> 00:15:23.730 love God love others and We how do we know that 00:15:23.730 --> 00:15:28.370 we love God if we do and we keep his commandments 00:15:28.370 --> 00:15:33.190 Tough stuff, I'll see you next time