PATIENCE & GRACE: GOD'S PATIENCE IS LONG BUT NOT ENDLESS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Patience And Grace
a) When you think about “patience” what is the first thing that comes into your mind? Is it some circumstance in which patience is a problem for you? Most people have a problem with patience, either in showing it themselves or being shown it by others.
b) If we would truly understand patience, we must first think about the patience and long-suffering of God. This is the paradigm or pattern of all true patience. In this lesson, we look at the patience and grace of God through Christ, so that we may understand patience at its foundation level.
c) Patience goes hand in hand with kindness. The patience of God stems from God's kindness or grace. In this lesson we will keep in mind that God is long-suffering toward us because he wants to be merciful toward us, and to save us from his wrath.
2. God's Patience Is Long But Not Endless
a) God is not patient forever. His patience is qualified by an “until” like all good patience should be. God is long-suffering, but only for as long as is proper and right. Then God's patience gives way to wrath and vengeance.
b) "The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah" (1 Peter 3:20). But God's patience did not last forever. The flood came (2 Peter 2:5).
c) God "keeps his loving-kindness for thousands..." God, in his grace, patiently allows opportunity for mercy and forgiveness. "Yet he will not leave the guilty unpunished..." (Exodus 34:7). God would be unjust to leave unpunished those who don't respond to his patience and loving-kindness. Through every generation God holds people accountable in this way (Ezekiel 18:20-24).
d) Patience therefore does not mean never being angry. It means being "slow to anger" rather than quick tempered (Proverbs 14:29). This is how God is patient. God is "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and plentiful in mercy, but he will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever" (Psalms 103:8-9).
e) God's patience is illustrated in the "dig it and dung it" parable about the fig tree (Luke 13:5-9). It is interesting to compare this with the fruitless fig tree that Jesus made to wither (Matthew 21:18-19).
The End ...
1. Patience And Gracea) When you think about “patience” what is the first thing that comes into your mind? Is it some circumstance in which patience is a problem for you? Most people have a problem with patience, either in showing it themselves or being shown it by others.
b) If we would truly understand patience, we must first think about the patience and long-suffering of God. This is the paradigm or pattern of all true patience. In this lesson, we look at the patience and grace of God through Christ, so that we may understand patience at its foundation level.
c) Patience goes hand in hand with kindness. The patience of God stems from God's kindness or grace. In this lesson we will keep in mind that God is long-suffering toward us because he wants to be merciful toward us, and to save us from his wrath.
2. God's Patience Is Long But Not Endless
a) God is not patient forever. His patience is qualified by an “until” like all good patience should be. God is long-suffering, but only for as long as is proper and right. Then God's patience gives way to wrath and vengeance.
b) "The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah" (1 Peter 3:20). But God's patience did not last forever. The flood came (2 Peter 2:5).
c) God "keeps his loving-kindness for thousands..." God, in his grace, patiently allows opportunity for mercy and forgiveness. "Yet he will not leave the guilty unpunished..." (Exodus 34:7). God would be unjust to leave unpunished those who don't respond to his patience and loving-kindness. Through every generation God holds people accountable in this way (Ezekiel 18:20-24).
d) Patience therefore does not mean never being angry. It means being "slow to anger" rather than quick tempered (Proverbs 14:29). This is how God is patient. God is "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and plentiful in mercy, but he will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever" (Psalms 103:8-9).
e) God's patience is illustrated in the "dig it and dung it" parable about the fig tree (Luke 13:5-9). It is interesting to compare this with the fruitless fig tree that Jesus made to wither (Matthew 21:18-19).
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