This morning's message comes to us from 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 4 to 7. And the title for this morning's message is, Love is Patient. Love is Patient. And the Word of God says, Love is patient and kind Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Join me in a moment of prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we pray now that as we continue to walk through this beloved passage, this so well-known passage within the church and even among those outside of the church, we pray that as we look at what it means for love to be patient Father, we pray that you would bless us this morning, fill this place with your Holy Spirit. And we pray that your Holy Spirit would be our teacher and our guide. But above all, Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit would apply the Word of God to our lives and to our hearts. so that we would leave from this place just a little more changed into the person and character of Jesus Christ. Father, we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. So, as we continue, as we continue in this series, with love being the heart of the gospel, the title of this series, Love, the Heart of the Gospel. And really, love is at the heart of Christianity. Obviously, if love is at the heart of the gospel and the gospel is at the heart of Christianity, then love is what is at the core of Christianity. Love is what it means to be a Christian. And this morning, we're gonna talk about patience and how it is that patience is the evidence of true and biblical love. Recall that last week I said that love is at the heart of the gospel because God is love, right? The Bible tells us that quite clearly in 1 John 4, 8, God is love. For that reason, John says that anyone who does not love does not know God because those who have been born of God, those who possess the indwelling Spirit of God, the immediate evidence of that transformation is and ought to be love. That's why Paul names that as the first evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5. The fruit of the Spirit, he says, is love. And then he goes on to list others. And last week I made the argument that everything that God does, everything that God does flows out of His love, that God created because God is a loving God. Yes, God created all things for His glory, And that is true and accurate, but I made the argument that God is most glorified when His creation comes to understand the kind of loving God that He is and love Him. God created out of love because God is love. For all of eternity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shared together this perfect, beautiful, harmonious love with one another. And at some point decided that this love is so amazing and so good, we cannot keep it to ourselves. And we ought to create a living being outside of ourselves to share our love with them. Not because God needed human beings. God creates human beings simply because He desires to share His goodness and His love with someone or something outside of Himself. In fact, all of divine revelation, I made the point, is based on love. Jesus says that in Matthew chapter 22, verses 34 and following. He says, the first and great commandment is you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. And the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And then he says on these two commandments depend all of the law and the prophets. Everything in scripture, everything in redemptive history depends on love. Love for God and love for people. And so we defined love last week is that love is desiring and doing what is best for someone else regardless of personal cost. Love is desiring and doing following out that desire, living out that desire. Love is desiring and doing what is truly best for someone else, regardless of personal cost. And we defined it that way because that is the way in which Christ loves us. Christ desired to do what was best for us, his people, the church, and then he did it. stepped out of the glory of heaven, the beauty of heaven, took on human flesh, was born into a poor household, lived a poor man's life, died a horrible death. He does that for us because that's what we needed. We needed someone to keep the law for us. And we needed someone to satisfy the law's justice for us. Christ does that for us, regardless of personal cost to himself. And so, we as Christians are to love in this way, desiring and doing for others what is best for them, regardless of personal cost to ourselves. And when we do that, patience will be the first indication. Patience will be the first indication that we are truly loving God, as we should, and we are truly loving others in a way that is biblical and God-honoring and Christ-exalting. But patience is something that many of us struggle with. Maybe not all. From time to time I've come across individuals that just seem to naturally just be patient people. It seems it doesn't matter what curveballs life throws at them. They just sort of shrug it off and we'll move on. Life goes on. Not a big deal. I've known a few like that. Right. But most people, at least in my experience, most people can really struggle with patience. Many struggle with having patience with people. They just grate on you. They get under your skin. Many can struggle with having patience in circumstances. and connected to that is having patience with God. Believe it or not, you can be, and oftentimes are, impatient with God Himself. Patience is something that every Christian should strive for, and we should pray for, and we should desire to possess and to demonstrate for two obvious reasons. Two obvious reasons. Number one, as I said earlier, it is the evidence of conversion. Galatians 5, 22 and 23, their scripture says the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. Patience is an evidence of the Holy Spirit. People who lack patience, well, also lack love then. and therefore likely are not true believers. The second reason we ought to desire and pray for and possess and demonstrate patience is because, according to Ephesians 5.1, we are to be imitators of God. Ephesians 5.1 says, as His beloved children, be imitators of God. We're to imitate the God who created us. And my friends, God is incredibly patient. God is a very patient God. In Exodus chapter 34, verses six and seven, there in the prior chapter, Moses makes a request of God. I want to see your glory. And God says, well, I'll place you in the cleft of the rock and I will pass by you and you will see my glory, but you cannot see my face, for no mere human can see my face and live." And so he does, in chapter 34, And it says, the Lord passed before him, that is Moses, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. And so it's interesting that when we read these two verses, verse six makes very clear that God is slow to anger. He's gracious. He's merciful. But then in verse seven, we see that he's a God of justice. He will not turn a blind eye to sin. I don't want to go off on a rabbit trail, but I do think it's worth noting and it's important to point out that these verses tell us that patience and justice are not antithetical. They are not antithetical. That's the mistake that many Christians make. It's a mistake that many churches make. That they truly demonstrate patience toward people means to never hold them accountable for their sin. You see this in parents very often. children who are defiant and disobedient and unruly, and the parents simply turn a blind eye, demonstrating patience and saying, well, you know, boys will be boys. That's not patience. That is non-parenting. You see it in churches. Sin is brought up to the church leadership, serious sin, person found in adultery or whatever the case may be, and well, you know, Let's just pray for him, be patient with him, pray that the Holy Spirit works in his life. But we don't want to drive him out of the church. That's not biblical patience. That is not loving your fellow man. That is not loving your fellow brother or sister in Christ. Although granted, it can sometimes be difficult to think of God as being patient and slow to anger in light of the flood, right? My goodness, he destroyed the entire planet. God said, that's it. I've had it. Everybody's dying except for eight people. It can sometimes be difficult to think of God as being slow to anger when we think of the Babylonian captivity. First, there was the Assyrian captivity in the north, 722, and then in 586, the Babylonian captivity, Israel in the south, taken captive, drug away in chains, or the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. But it's all about perspective because you have to keep in mind that from Adam to the flood is approximately 2,000 years. 2,000 years. God tolerated wickedness, evil, open rebellion against His authority, 2,000 years. From the exodus to the Babylonian captivity, from the time they come out of Egypt and God forms them into a nation, not long after that, that they fall into sin. They begin idle, worshiping pagan gods. From the Exodus to the fall of the Southern Kingdom, the Babylonian captivity is approximately a thousand years. A thousand years God puts up with them, sending them prophet after prophet after prophet. And then from Christ until today, it's 2000 years. I mean, I can't tell you, you know, I'm kind of a news junkie, And I can't tell you how often I watch the news and I think to myself, why does God put up with this world? I mean, I am just baffled by His degree of patience that He continues to tolerate the sin that exists in this world. Or think of how often you and me sin against God on a daily basis. How many times a day do you entertain a thought that you know is displeasing to God? Utter a word to someone else that you know is hurtful to them and displeasing to God. Not only engaging in sins of commission that is doing the things that we should not do, but how often do we engage in sins of omission that is not doing the things that we know we ought to be doing? And as a believer, this goes on in your life day after day after day after day. And guess what? God hasn't turned you into a greasy spot yet because he's patient. He is a patient, patient, merciful God. So whenever someone vents to me over the years, I've had people come to me and vent about how frustrated they are with someone else in their life, keep trying, keep trying to extend grace. How patient should I be with this person? At what point do I just cut them off, cut them out of my life? My answer to them is always this, well, how patient is God with you? There's your answer. No matter how often you blow it, Jesus is never gonna get to a point in your life where he says, you know what? I'm done with you. That's it. You've gone too far. I'm just gonna cut you out of my life. I'm done. How patient is God with us? But what does it mean to be patient? What does it mean that love is Well, the Greek word in 1 Corinthians 13, 4 is the Greek word makrathumeo. It's a verb, makrathumeo, and it's one of four words in the New Testament that are variously translated as patience, perseverance, endurance, steadfastness, or long-suffering. Long-suffering. And all of these words carry the same basic meaning. But I think that the English word that captures the Greek word the best is the one that the new king, or not the new King James, but the old King James uses, and that is longsuffering. Love is longsuffering. Love, true love, godly love, biblical love, suffers long and is willing to. So here's a definition for you of patience if you want a definition. It's kind of long, so I'll read it more than once if you want to try to write it down. Here's how I would define patience from my understanding of scripture. Patience is the ability to suffer long. to endure difficult people or difficult circumstances for extended periods of time without losing your calm, without losing your joy and peace, and is the evidence of the Holy Spirit, and is rooted in a deep understanding and appreciation of the patience that God displays toward us. I'll say that one more time. Patience is the ability to suffer long, to endure difficult people or difficult circumstances for extended periods of time without losing your calm, without losing your joy and peace, and is the evidence of the Holy Spirit and is rooted in a deep understanding and appreciation of the patience God displays toward us. So we all know what patience is, and we know what it looks like. But how do we possess and display patience? Because you may be asking that question. Because even without a definition, I think most of us would understand what patience is and what it looks like. Most of us would recognize that maybe you don't have as much of it in your own life that you know you should have. So what are we? to do about that? Four things. Number one, pray. Starts with prayer. Being a more patient person, having more patience in your life toward other people and towards circumstances begins with prayer. And that may sound elementary, but how often have you prayed specifically for patience? It's something that ought to be done daily, getting on your knees before God every morning or every night or whenever it is you say your prayers and saying, God, make me a more patient person. Help me to be more patient toward other people, towards circumstances, towards your will for my life. And in praying for that every day, and patiently waiting for God to answer that prayer. Some of you are thinking, well, I have prayed for it. Well, how often? Well, maybe two or three times. It didn't happen, so I quit. We have to be patient in praying for patience and know that God doesn't work on our timing. He works on his own timing. Same time, I've heard many people say, over the years. Well, you know, I never want to pray for patience because I'm afraid God will put me through something to teach me patience. I don't want to do that because that could be dangerous. Well, it could. God might do that. If you start praying for patience, you know, let's be honest, he may put you through some difficult situation or bring someone into your life that is going to help develop patience in your character. But here's the deal. If you love Christ, and if you truly desire to be like Christ, then you should be willing to go through whatever is necessary for the Holy Spirit to produce patience in your life. In light of what Christ was willing to suffer for us, we ought to be willing to say, Lord, I'll suffer anything to be more like Christ, to make me more like Christ, to give me greater patience that will bring glory to God. I am willing to walk through whatever fire you may have prepared for me. At the same time, I've heard other Christians say, Well, you know, I may not be a patient person and other people may know that, but that's just who I am. I just speak my mind, let the chips fall where they may. But as believers who have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we choose to either be patient or to be impatient. You realize that? Patience is a choice. for those who possess the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And if you don't believe me, you can turn with me then to Colossians chapter three. And I'll, well, God's word will prove it to you. What a great message to have on a day when we have no air conditioning, right? Isn't God good? teaching us patience, long-suffering for the glory of God. Paul writes in Colossians 3, verse 1, if then you have been raised with Christ. Notice the if then, right? If you're a believer, If you've been born again, if you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things of the earth. Set your mind. Paul's telling you to do this. If Paul is telling Christians to do this, it implies he believes you can do this. He goes on to say in verse 5, put to death, you believer who have been raised with Christ, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetedness, which is idolatry. And then he goes on to list a whole host of other sins in verse 8, anger, wrath, slander, obscene talk, et cetera, et cetera. And then he says in verse 12, put on. If you're a believer, this is what you need to do. You need to put off the works of the flesh and you need to put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you so that you also must forgive. Paul clearly believes you have the ability to do this. And you know what? You do. Because you're not dead in sins anymore. You are not bound to sin. You are not totally depraved. In the garden before the fall, man had the ability to not sin. He had the ability to not sin. After the fall, one sin enters into the world. Man does not have the ability to not sin. Man does not, unbelievers do not have the ability to not sin. Total depravity. Everything they do flows from a heart of sin. Sin is just what they do. It's all they know. But when we are born again, When we are brought back to life and brought into union with Christ by the Holy Spirit, guess what? Once again, because of the Holy Spirit, once again, we have the ability to not sin. We have the ability to not sin. If we will simply do, as Paul says, for example, in Galatians chapter 5, verse 16, Paul says, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Well, my friends, impatience is a fleshly desire. It is a fleshly emotion, impatience. Paul says, put away these things and put on these things. I believe it was R.C. Sproul who said it best. when he said that when we sin, no matter what the sin is, as believers, it is because at that moment, our desire to please ourselves is greater than our desire to please God. Whether we're talking about sins of commission or sins of omission, not doing the things we know we ought to be doing. When we sin, it is because at that moment, our desire to please ourselves, to satisfy our own flesh, is greater than our desire to please God. So pray. Pray for patience. Pray every day that the Holy Spirit will teach you patience, will grow you in patience, will make you a more patient person, and pray for it every single day until you have the patience of God. until you are imitators of God, as the Bible commands us to do in Ephesians 5.1. The second key to having patience is praying for and striving for contentment. Praying for and striving for contentment. Because the lack of contentment is a symptom of being impatient with God's will for your life. That's what it is. Discontentedness at its root is being impatient with God, with God's will for your life. We hear it all the time. We see it all the time in other people. You know, God, when are you going to bring me that spouse that I've been praying for for so long? I'm tired of being single. I'm almost 40 years old. When am I going to have a spouse? When are you going to give us children? Because we struggle with infertility. When am I going to reach that career goal? That dream that I've always wanted to accomplish? When is my husband going to get off his duff and start acting like a spiritual heir? When is my wife going to start to even remotely model the Proverbs 31 woman? Just I'm running out of patience. I can't take it anymore. We are often impatient with God's plan for our life. We're impatient with God's timing, and we're impatient with His pace for our lives. We're discontent. Because remember, God is sovereign. God is absolutely, completely, and totally sovereign over everything that happens in this world and in your life. So the job that you have is the job God wants you to have. That's the job He wants you to be in. Where you are in life is exactly where God wants you to be in life. The person that you are married to is exactly the person God wants you to be married to. But yet we struggle because we come across Promises in scripture like Jeremiah 29 11, right? I know the plans I have for you says to Lord Plans to harm you and to prop our plans not to harm you but to prosper you and to give you a future And we read those and we think really I mean does this apply to me plans not to harm me to prosper me to give me a future when when When is that maybe that doesn't apply to me? God, when are you gonna do these things? But listen to what Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6, beginning in verse 6, Paul says to Timothy, but godliness with contentment is great gain. Great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. I mean, just stop and think about that for a moment. We brought nothing into the world, meaning whatever you have in life that you can count as good as a blessing, guess what? It was given to you by God. Because you brought nothing into the world and you cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. If you've got food on the table, clothes on your back, Paul says you got nothing to grumble about. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmless desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith. discontentedness, and pierce themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness." We need to pray for, learn to be content with God's will for your life, God's plan for your life. Because when we are impatient with God, when we are frustrated with God, when we are frustrated with his plan for our life, with our lot in life, guess what? That tends to spill out onto other people. Because if you can't be patient with a perfect and holy God, you're not going to be able to be patient with an imperfect person. The third key to possessing and displaying patience, which flows from love, is self-denial. Self-denial is the key to being patient with God's will for your life, with where He has you in life, with the people that He has brought into your life. Because one reason we tend to be less patient with others is because we are too focused on ourselves. As human beings, we tend to be self-centered. It's all about us. It's all about me. We tend to have this overinflated view of ourselves, which is why we are not patient with other people. In other words, when other people make mistakes, do things wrong, do things that irritate us or offend us, We become greatly offended and irritated with them and we lose our patience with them. Why? Because I would never make that same mistake. I would never say something that I would regret later. Right? We have an overinflated view of ourselves. We tend to hold other people to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. Rather than saying, We all make mistakes. I've made mistakes. I've done things I regret. How can I not be patient with you for doing something that you regret? Self-denial is a key to patience. When people say things that we don't like or treat us in ways that we don't like, we become impatient with them. Because in our mind, In our mind, maybe subconsciously, we're thinking to ourselves, how dare you speak to me that way? How dare you treat me that way? Do you know who I am? I'm a legend in my own mind, and you should know that. So oftentimes, impatience is a sign of arrogance, self-centeredness, and the lack of humility. Not recognizing who we are, in relation to God, not recognizing who we are in relation to others. And who are we in relation to others? Remember the last Lord's Supper, Jesus washed the disciples feet and says, you are to do the same to one another, to serve one another, to be each other's servant. And by this, all the world will know that you are my disciples. Jesus said, He who wants to be the greatest among you must be the least among you, must be your servant. In the ancient world, the lowest slave at the bottom of the rung Never got offended when his master spoke ill of him or said something offensive to him or told him to do something. Why? He recognized, I'm just a servant. How can I get offended? He's the master. I'm the servant. I do what I'm told. We lose patience with people. We become impatient with people. when they speak ill of us or they treat us poorly because we forget our position in life. We are to be the lowest servant to everyone around us. The fourth key to patiently loving others is to pray that God will increase your faith in His promises and in His Word. Impatience oftentimes is also indicative of a lack of faith in the promises of God. Impatience with people, impatience with God, impatience with the circumstances in our life. For example, Romans 8 28 says, God works all things for the good of those who love him. Everything that you are going through in life, where you are, the people that God has brought into your life, the circumstances that you are dealing with, God is using that for your good. If we really believe that, why do we become impatient and frustrated? Why not rejoice at what God is doing? Because we struggle, if we're honest with ourselves, we struggle to believe that promise. It's easy to believe it when life is good, but when you're in the darkest, deepest valley you've ever been through in life and it seems to go on forever, is Romans 8, 28 real? Is that true? Or promises like 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16, to the end, Scripture says, so we do not lose heart. We do not lose heart. We don't become impatient with God, with circumstances, with life, with people. We do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day, for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us And I know we can read that sometimes and think light momentary affliction. You know, Paul doesn't know me. He doesn't know what I'm going through. But you know what? Most of us have never been through what Paul went through. Go to the end of 2 Corinthians and read. Stoned multiple times, flogged multiple times, beaten with rods multiple times, put in prison, shipwrecked out at sea. You read his life and what he has been through. My goodness! And this is Paul who is writing this for this light momentary affliction, Paul says. All of the beatings that he's gotten, the floggings that he's gotten, the being thrown in jail, being stoned, pelted with rocks until he went unconscious. Paul says light momentary affliction. This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look, not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen, this life, this world, these temporary momentary light afflictions, the things that are seen are transient. They're fleeting. They're passing away. But the things that are unseen are eternal. Christians need to be farsighted and stop being so nearsighted. We just see everything that's right in front of us, and it's never going to end, and it's no good, and no good is going to come out of this. We struggle with impatience with God and His plan for our life, with circumstances that we are in, with other people, because we struggle to believe the Word of God. But beloved, God's Word is true. He is faithful. His Word is trustworthy. Whatever God is doing in your life, He is preparing in you a weight of eternal glory. And He's strengthening your faith. Peter says that in 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7, Peter writes this. Here's another text that we struggle to believe and causes us to be impatient quite often. 1 Peter 1, verse 6, In this you rejoice. Remember, he's writing to a group of people who are suffering persecution. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, listen, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is at the coming of Christ. In other words, one of the reasons that God puts us through difficult times in life is to fortify your faith. That's a good thing. That's cause to rejoice. And you say, how does that work? What do you mean exactly? Because those who are not genuine in their faith, it's a superficial faith. They committed their life to Christ for all of the wrong reasons, because health and wealth and prosperity or whatever else. God was going to fix my marriage. God's going to fix my kids. God's going to make my life better. But when life doesn't get better and when life gets even worse, when their marriage still falls apart, their kids still leave them, they still lose their job, the cancer is not being healed, they walk away from God. I'm done. I'm done. I mean, you know, if God's not going to hear my prayers, I'm done. but the person who goes through that difficult trial in life that is painful to endure and maybe even gets worse and things don't turn out the way they wanted them to turn out, at the other end of it, when they are still believing, they can say to themselves, my faith is real. My faith is real because I'm still clinging to Christ. And it doesn't matter that I've lost everything. It doesn't matter that I've lost it all. I am still clinging to Christ and I find joy in that. My faith is real. It's genuine. God will bring you through difficult times in life to show you Your faith that has been wrought within you by the Holy Spirit is real because you're still clinging to Christ at the end of that storm, or maybe even still in the storm that's been raging for a long time. A patient person is patient with God. He knows God's word is true. And so the patient person says to himself, I've been praying about this for a long time. I've been in this storm for a long time, but I know God's word is true and his promises are true. So I just need to wait longer and I need to be more patient with God and with his timing and his plan for my life and the circumstances of my life. And the people that he's brought into my life. I simply need to be more patient because I know God's Word is true. I know he is working all things for my good What are the consequences of not Possessing Patience it flows out from love and displaying a loving patience toward God, circumstances, people. Well, there's at least four. Number one, it can open a channel to a host of other sins. People who struggle with possessing and demonstrating Christ-like patience that is produced by the Holy Spirit will often also struggle with anger. with jealousy, with a lack of gentleness and compassion for others and unbelief in God's Word. They just snap. They get angry, cut people off, off with their heads. You made a mistake, I'm done with you. Number two, not praying for and possessing and displaying Christ-like patience can discourage people from desiring Christ. Because if we, Christians who bear the name of Christ, are constantly snapping at people and wanting to chop their heads off because they've made a mistake that is similar to many mistakes that we have made, Then the world sees that at work, and they say, if that's what Christianity is all about, I don't want anything to do with it. It is sad that there have been times where I've met Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses that seemed a lot more patient than Christians. Of course, from their perspective, they're trying to work their way to heaven. As Christians, we tend to easily fall prey to easy believism. See, I'm not trying to work my way to heaven. I know that salvation is by faith alone, and I have faith. And so now I'll go out and be impatient with everybody else in the world. Thirdly, the lack of Christ-honoring and God-exalting patience can lead to feelings of being unfit and unuseful for service to God. If we do not possess long-suffering, as God brings us through difficult times in life, we can begin to think that God is punishing us, that God doesn't love us, that God has forsaken us. Patience with God. Patience with God's plan and His will for your life. Long-suffering will cause us to remember that God does love us. God is not punishing us. He is strengthening our faith. He is showing us that our faith is genuine and He is working something good in us through this circumstance. And finally, Not consistently praying for patients, possessing Christ-like patients can rob us of our joy and of our peace as we wrangle over how long will this last. The patient person, the person who is content, who is content with God's will for his life or for her life, who does not think about himself, Not about me. It's about God. It's about you. It's about doing what's best for you. The person, the patient person who does not think about himself but only thinks about glorifying God and serving others and the person who has a solid faith in God's promises will have peace and joy regardless of the circumstances. And I'd encourage you to read Philippians over the next week. That book talks more about joy than any other New Testament book. And Paul writes that book while he's sitting in a Roman prison, not knowing, and he says that in chapter one, I don't know if I'll get out alive or if they're going to behead me. But one thing he does know, he says he has joy in Christ. Paul had joy. In the midst of his suffering, his trials, and his tribulations, he always had joy. How? Because Paul loved people. Paul always did, desired to do, and did what was best for someone else, regardless of personal cost. And in his mind, if this is what will bring God the most glory, if this is what will open up opportunities for me to share the gospel with other people, if this is what will open up opportunities for me to minister to the saints, if this is how God can be glorified in my life, Then in Paul's mind, bring it on. And I will have joy because he believed the promises of scripture. He believed all things, all things work together for the good of those who love Christ. And Paul found joy in that. This is for my good. Whether he read first Peter or not, I don't know. But surely he would have agreed with Peter that all of this, as I get through this, will prove to me that my faith is real, that it is genuine, that I'm following Christ for the right reasons. Because Paul did not live a prosperous life in this world. He did not live a life of ease. And you know what? Neither did Christ. So why should we expect anything different Love is desiring and doing what is best for someone else, regardless of personal cost to ourselves. What's an abbreviated definition of that? Love is patient. Love is patient. Let's pray. Our gracious God, Heavenly Father, Lord, we pray that you would work this within us. Father, we pray that by your Holy Spirit, in whatever circumstances are necessary, Lord, we pray that you would make us into a church, that you would make us into people who possess and display the patience of Christ. Help us to be patient with you, to be patient with your will for our lives, where we are now, the circumstances of our lives. Help us to be patient with those around us, always remembering that you have been and continue to be incredibly patient with us. Though we struggle every day with our sins, though we sin every day against you, No matter how often we come to you seeking forgiveness, you are always faithful and just and patient to forgive us of our sins, to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Lord, we pray. We pray that you would help us to bring you great glory and honor by loving others around us with that same kind of patience. And Lord, we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. If you are visiting with us this morning as we go to the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Supper is open to all believers. That is, if you have at some point in your life repented of your sins, Acknowledge to God that you are a sinner, that you are in need of a savior. And if you have placed your faith in Christ alone for your salvation, then the Lord's Supper is available to you. We invite you to come down the center aisle. It's a little easier that way, prevents a traffic jam. And then go back up the outer aisle into your seats. Remember to take two cups that are stacked on top of each other. The top one has the fruit of the vine and the bottom one has the unleavened bread. But as we go to the Lord's Supper, we are reminded, the Lord's Supper reminds us of how incredibly patient God was with us. The long-suffering of Christ, what He was willing to endure in His life of obedience to the law, in His flogging, in His beatings, in His persecution, that was driven by love. And it reminds us that this is the kind of love and the kind of patience that we as Christians ought to possess and display and demonstrate to those around us and to God. We can become so incredibly impatient with God and His plan for our lives, not understanding what He's doing or why He's doing it. It reminds us that let us put our faith in the promises of God, knowing that God is in sovereign control of everything, and He is truly working everything in your life for your good and for His glory.