A Composite of Peculiar Patience

Transcription

1 Dy 1 A Divine Hope Dy 2 Be Still, Be Filled Dy 3 Lest You Be Judged Dy 4 Hve Mercy Dy 5 A Clen Slte W eek 6 A Composite of Peculir Ptience Hve you ever known serene person who never pssed judgment on others? How often do the filures, emotions, or outright sins of someone else ruin your pece of mind? Wht would it be like if you refused to llow the behvior of others to spoil your dy? This week we will study the commodity clled ptience, chrcteristic of the fruit the Spirit desires to ber in your life. Ptience is inspired by mercy, devoid of condemntion, nd evidence of the presence nd power of our Holy God. This week we study distinctive form of ptience clled mkrothumi. Mercy drives this ptience. Becuse God hs mercy on us, He shows us incredible ptience. Becuse we re becoming like Him, we reflect His ptience to others. Principl Questions Dy 1: Exctly wht inspired the endurnce of the Thesslonins? Dy 2: Wht ws God s promise to Noh, nd wht ws the proof God gve to sel the covennt? Dy 3: Wht ws Dvid s ttitude towrd judgment fter his sin of pride in 2 Smuel 24:14? Dy 4: How does God crete ministry from misery? Dy 5: Wht percentge of our sin does God forgive? 114

2 Week 6/ A Composite of Peculir Ptience D y 1 A Divine Hope Through week 6 we study the fourth qulity of the fruit of the Spirit: ptience. Two importnt Greek words trnslte into the English word ptience: hupomone nd mkrothumi. Both words re vitl in the life of the believer, but only one is qulity of the fruit of the Spirit. Mkrothumi is the word used in Gltins 5:22, but we cnnot fully comprehend its mening prt from the word hupomone. For this reson, we will devote tody s study to this wonderful, yet often pinful, Greek word. The word hupomone possesses the mening you most often ssocite with the word ptience. It mens to persevere, remin under.bering up under. refers to tht qulity of chrcter which does not llow one to surrender to circumstnces or succumb under tril. 1 Hupomone is endurnce in reltion to things or circumstnces. 2 The word hs nother importnt component, best discovered in 1 Thesslonins 1:3. Crefully red this verse. As we will see tody hupomone is often trnslted endurnce or persevernce in the NIV. LTody s Tresure: So do not throw wy your confidence; it will be richly rewrded. You need to persevere so tht when you hve done the will of God, you will receive wht he hs promised (Heb. 10:35-36). l Exctly wht inspired the endurnce of the Thesslonins? A very strong ssocition with hope is crucil to our understnding of the word hupomone. The Greek word for hope is elpis, nd it mens the desire of some good with expecttion of obtining it. 3 As you see, the Greek mening of hope is much stronger thn our English definition. We think of hope s positive thought or wish towrd something we might obtin. The biblicl concept of hope is positive outlook towrd n expected end. Biblicl hope is not focused on wht might hppen but wht must hppen. Thus we cn sy tht hupomone is persevernce, endurnce, nd bering up under difficult things or circumstnces inspired by beneficil expecttion. Keep in mind, hope inspires hupomone. Let s tke look t severl exmples of hupomone. Look up Jmes 5:11. The NIV s English word persevernce is trnslted from the Greek word hupomone. Wht biblicl chrcter possessed hupomone? Tke quick look bck t week 5, dy 1. Wht were few of the situtions or circumstnces through which Job persevered? 115

3 Living Beyond Yourself Hve you ever wondered why Job remined fithful? Wht in the world ws his motivtion? his inspirtion? Since Job possessed hupomone, wht HAD to be his mjor inspirtion ccording to the specific mening of this Greek word? Two mjor hopes inspired the incomprble persevernce or ptience of Job. We discover the first in chpter 23. Red Job 23:8-10. When Job could not find God, in wht did he tke comfort? (v. 10). Job could not find God, but he knew without doubt tht God hd not lost him. He knows the wy tht I tke. Job knew tht God hd not overlooked one moment of his gony, nd he hd HOPE in very precious promise: when he hs tested me, I will come forth s gold. How often, in the midst of tril, hve we ll sid, I don t know how ny good will ever come from this one. Yet, hve we ever lost our entire fortune, ll our children, nd our helth? In the midst of circumstnces which continully testified tht nothing good could ever be obtined, Job persevered, fueled by his hope tht, when he hs tested me, I will come forth s gold. The metphor of gold holds such beutiful symbolism for our instruction. Gold is not finished until it reches point of perfect luster. The chief objective of the refiner is to bring the gold to point of gretest reflection. The gold is not s costly for its own ske s it is for the ske of tht which it reflects. It is the light which exposes its qulities. Interestingly, the Greek word for glory is dox which mens to give correct estimtion of. 4 For instnce, ccording to 1 Corinthins 10:31, we re to give correct estimtion of God in ll tht we et, drink, or whtever we do. In other words, our ctions re to reflect God s ctions (wht they would be) in tht sitution. Job believed tht his trils would result in his own refinement in God nd God s own reflection in him. Job plced his hope in the truth expressed in Romns 8:28 long before it ws ever written! Wht things work together for the good of those who love Him nd who hve been clled ccording to His purpose? (Rom. 8:28). The refining process is rrely comfortble, but wht is OUR HOPE or expecttion? (Rom. 8:29). 116

4 Week 6/ A Composite of Peculir Ptience Our expecttion is tht we shll be conformed to the very likeness of Jesus. Like Job, in tht process we cn confidently depend on one thing: being mde conformble is rrely comfortble. But when Christ is reflected in us s in fine gold, our glorious hopes re fulfilled. How re we being trnsformed into His likeness? (2 Cor. 3:18). Job drew upon two hopes. He hd hope in the fct tht God ws t work. God hd not misplced or forgotten bout him. Job trusted tht God would trnsform him. Now tke look t Job 19:25-27 to find the second hope which inspired Job s persevernce. Red Job 19: In wht ws Job ultimtely plcing his hope? Glory! Although Job hd never seen God, he voiced his fith tht somedy God would ssume bodily form nd stnd upon this very erth! He lso knew tht one dy, fter his old body hd been destroyed, he would tke on new body nd return to the erth. In tht new body Job would see his God not through someone else s eyes, but with his very own! His hert yerned for the dy, nd tht yerning ws his hope hope which inspired his incredible persevernce. Job did not possess single motivtion tht we don t possess. In Scripture we hold in our hnds vst promises tht Job never held, ssuring us tht God will work our pin towrd perfection. We lso possess written prophecy which promises us tht our Redeemer lives, nd tht in the end he will stnd upon the erth (Job 19:25), nd in tht moment we will see him s he is (1 John 3:2). Let s conclude tody by looking up ech of the following ppernces of the word hupomone. The word is trnslted in English forms of either endurnce or persevernce. Remember, hupomone is lwys inspired by hope. In ech of the following circumstnces, record wht ppers to be the hope inspiring hupomone. Hebrews 10:35-36: Hebrews 12:1-2: Jmes 1:

5 Living Beyond Yourself How does God wnt you to respond to wht He showed you tody? 2 Timothy 2:10 2 Timothy 2:12 Without hope, no ptience; without ptience, no mturity; without mturity, no reflection; nd without reflection, no glory. Close with Colossins 1:27. Christ in you is the of! l Are you presently experiencing difficulty in regrd to situtions or circumstnces? Bsed on tody s study, wht hopes do you possess to help you persevere through this tril? Pry for God s guidnce in those situtions nd circumstnces. Thnk Him for the hope He hs lredy given you. LTody s Tresure: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, s some understnd slowness. He is ptient with you, not wnting nyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentnce (2 Pet. 3:9). D y 2 Be Still, Be Filled We lerned bout two Greek words trnslted into the English word ptience: hupomone nd mkrothumi. We devoted the previous dy s study to cultivting n understnding of hupomone. From the definition you lerned on dy 1, plese fill in the following blnks: Hupomone mens to, remin, under. [It] refers to tht qulity of chrcter which does not llow one to to _ or succumb under tril. HUPOMONE IS in reltion to things or circumstnces. 118