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Man, so if you have your Bibles, just look down right there, verse number two, that's what I'm going to focus on, two and three. That says, I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou hast not bared them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast fouled them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. But the words that I want you to see is just those two words, or that one word that's in both those verses, and that's the word patience. That's what I want to focus on is patience. Yes, this is the Church of Ephesus. This is a church that was famously told, you know, but has somewhat against it because thou hast left thy first love. But he's praising this church. He's saying, look, you guys are a church that's working, and you are a church that has patience. He's showing to me, these are the good things that you're doing. And I guess that's kind of a way to just rebuke someone. You start out by telling them the good stuff they're doing, and then you say, but this is what you're doing wrong, and hopefully they get it right. So that's a quick tip on how to handle, you know, dealing with somebody who you have to correct. Praise them a little, and then hit them hard, and hopefully he gets it right. Amen? But the title of my sermon is this. Patience is important. Patience is important. And just like this morning, I know you guys are soul winners. You know how to get people saved. But sometimes people tend to forget that baptism is very important. Sometimes people think it's not that important. I'll focus it when I think about it. I'll focus it when I get a chance. You know what? If I get to it, I get to it. But that's what God commanded us. It's the last words before he took off saying, hey, teach nations, baptizing them. So if God left it for the last things that he wanted in the Bible, it's because he wanted us to remember it as much as possible when we finished reading that book. You know, but if you have your Bibles, just go to 1 Samuel 13, 5. 1 Samuel 13, 5. And I just want to read just something that I saw in a book. And even the world is realizing that patience is super important, not just important, but super important to success. And I got this from a leadership book. It's a Navy SEAL leadership book. And this is what the individual that wrote, who's a CEO of some company that trains CEOs. So this guy is, you know, just like a leader guru in a sense. But this is what he says. His patience is not in action. It is not laziness. It is not being slow. Individuals who exhibit patience know the right time to act. So what he's saying is people that are patient, they tend to be smart people. They know what to say, what needs to be said. They know when to keep their mouth shut, when they need to keep their mouth shut. But in the end, these individuals know when to act, when is the right time to do things and when it's not. He says a patient warrior is in control of his emotions, actions and desires. Rather, it is reckless and patience that risks lives, goals, relationships. And I get into that. Missions, even the battle of war, because of course, he does mention war because he was a Navy SEAL. But when I think of that, that statement that it is impatience that risks lives, goals, relationships, missions, even the battle of war. When I think of that, I think of Saul. I think of him when he was fighting with the Philistines, where his patience cost him the battle and cost him his kingdom. And ended up getting him in a lot of trouble with the Lord. So look down at verse number five, First Samuel 13, five. We'll read about that story where Saul is fighting the Philistines and he does get scared. And for obvious reasons, the Philistines gather themselves together to fight with Israel. 30,000 chariots. That's a lot of chariots. That is a big enemy. And 6,000 horsemen and people as the sand, which is on the seashore and multitude. So he has a reason to be afraid. Big enemy. He has horsemen coming at him. 30,000. Can you imagine just 30,000 of anything? You know, that's a lot. That's a big enemy. So, of course, I think everybody in this room will be at least a little bit nervous. You know, so you can see just how nervous they get or just how distressed the trend of Israel get. Look at verse number six. And when the men, this is the men of Israel, Saul, that, talking about the Philistines, that they were in the strait. They're like, oh, man, we are in trouble. For the people were distressed when the people did hide themselves. And this is kind of funny, but when you think about it, this is a true story. It doesn't obviously appear that funny, but it's just like, whoa, what are they doing? Then the people did hide themselves in caves and in thickets and in rocks and in high places and in pits. Imagine hiding yourself in a pit. Now, I don't know how long ago it was. I think it was maybe six years ago. Who heard of that false alarm, that missile launch that was that they basically had in Hawaii? Who's heard of that? That I think happened like five years ago. So when I was down there for the so many marathon, I think a few years before, a couple of years before I got there, there was some issue where some emergency, something happened with their emergency system and it ended up going off. So people's phones started to blow up. I'm sure that happens here as well when just like a storm or whatever, everybody's phone starts to go off. Well, what happened in Hawaii is that everybody's phone started to go off and the message that was on the phones was missile inbound from North Korea. I'm amazed you guys haven't heard about that. I didn't know about it either. I guess only the Hawaiians know about it. But when they were telling me this story and then I looked it up because they had YouTube video, they have YouTube videos now where you can check it out. Their phone started to go off and it said emergency, emergency inbound missile. And so it went on their phones and also went on the TV. So people that are watching basketball games is going on their screen. It just says the emergency broadcast inbound missile from North Korea or something like that. So then, of course, going through the TV and then I guess there were sirens going off in Honolulu. You know, the over, you know, the missiles are inbound. So people thought it was real. I would have thought it was real. What in the world? Your phone's going off. It's on the TV. You hear sirens all over the place. So people started to run. There were fear. There was super scared. And they started taking their kids and putting them in pits. You could say they were opening manholes and just shoving their kids in there and closing in on top of them, trying to save them somehow. Like that's really going to save, you know, but that's the kind of fear that they had. They're thinking a missile is inbound because it went off their phones. It's on TV. People don't know what's going on. So they took it serious. So it caused a lot of panic. And at the end, I guess it was some accident that the people in Hawaii, their emergency system or whatever, they ended up trying to do something to it. And it went off, you know, accidentally. But I guess they apologized and that was the end of that. But that's kind of what's happening here. They're at the point where they're hiding anywhere that they can. You know, so they're very fearful. And verse number eight, it shows just what ends up happening after that. It says in Eteri seven days, talking about Saul, he's waiting. It says in Eteri seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed, but Samuel came not to gig out and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. So he's doing an unlawful sacrifice. So Samuel said, hey, I'm going to show up at this certain time. He's waiting for him. The enemy's across from them. They're trying to get the Lord on their side so they can go fight them, trying to give faith in his troops in order to go out there and take care of the enemy. But Samuel ends up being laid for whatever reason. But who loses patience? The king, instead of just sucking it up, you could say, and waiting for Samuel to show up. That was the game plan. He loses patience. He starts getting a little bit upset. You know, he sees that people are panicking all over the place because the people that were following him, it says that there were the people that were following them were afraid. He ends up just doing the sacrifice. And of course, and it says, as he did the sacrifice and it came to pass that as soon as he did that, he had offered the burnt offering that Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. And Samuel said, what has thou done? And Saul said, because I saw that the people were scattered from me and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Micmash. Therefore said I, the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal and have not made supplication unto the Lord. I forced myself, therefore, and offered a burnt offering. So instead of being honest with himself that he just lost patience, he said, hey, I did it because I had to do it. He didn't have to do it. And in fact, when he did it, Samuel rebukes him and says, hey, you did something bad. So it says right there, Samuel said to Saul, thou has done foolishly, thou has not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. For now would the Lord have established thy kingdom, you know, upon Israel forever, but now thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord have commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou has not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. So what do we see? We see somebody who lost patience and he pretty much lost everything. Hopefully we never make a decision because we lost patience, where it's going to cause our family to suffer, it's going to cause you to suffer. But here's something that most people don't think that that patience is something that if you have it, you have it. If you don't, you don't. And I even got brainwashed as a little child to think that patience is not something I should work at. So I did it. And so I noticed that during my teen years, I was more rebellious. And even towards my career in the beginning, I wasn't necessarily going along with everything. And I would just be like everybody else, bad attitude, complaining. And it is what it is. Marines, they do complain a lot when things go bad. And I just joined right in. But that's because I was brainwashed from movies. I remember this one movie where the hero was somebody that we looked up to, but he was the bad guy in the movie. And sure enough, he says something like this. He was yelling at some guy and he says, hey, hurry up, because patience is not one of my virtues. But even though it ain't, I'm still a cool bad guy in the movie. And so we saw that as kids and we kind of mimic that, like, yeah, patience is not one of our virtues. So even when it came to my mom, I'd been like, hurry up, mom, patience is not one of our virtues. And she's looking at it like, what? So, of course, we grow up thinking patience is not a big deal. It's not a big thing. But you know what? Patience is very important. But just so I'm very clear, I want to talk about what exactly do I mean by patience? Because if I were to tell you, well, patience is just suffering and patience is this and that. And if you go and just Google it, you're going to get a definition that I don't agree with. And I explain why. So if you have your Bible, go ahead. If you can meet me at John chapter number two, John chapter number two, verse 13. So I just said, you know what? Let me just Google it. Let me see what comes up. Let me do a quick search of patience, because that's what people tend to do is they research words. They just Google them really quick. And what comes up, they tend to go with. But this definition that came up, I don't agree with. And I'll explain why in a second. So the definition that came up was just some generic Internet definition. It wasn't from Dictionary.com. It wasn't from MiriamWebster.com. It was just something that came up when I Googled patience. And this is what it came out. It says the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble or suffering. And if it were to stop there, I will kind of agree with it, because you do have to kind of suffer. If you're going to have patience, you kind of have to put up with people. You have to kind of have a little bit of suffering in your heart. But what it says is this without getting angry or upset. And I don't agree necessarily with that, because think about it. If the Bible saying a exercise patience is probably because you are getting upset to some degree for whatever reason. So when it says that is without getting angry or upset, that's not necessarily true. And I don't even think that's that's possible to have to exercise patience without having a little bit of anger in you, without having to go through something that's getting you upset. If you look at John chapter number two, verse 13, this is a famous story of Jesus Christ, you know, when he made a small a small course, or when he made a, you know, as you could say, a whip. So this is what ends up happening, which is started verse number 13 says in the Jews, Passover was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sowed oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting. So when he says that is when he sees this, I have a hard time believing that he didn't get upset. I have a hard time believing that when he saw this, he just kind of looked at it. And like I said right there, yeah, he was kind of troubled by it. You know, he was against, you could say suffering, but he wasn't upset whatsoever. I don't think that's the case. I think what he did is we went out and he was upset, but he kept his cool. You know, he decided, no, what I'm going to hold off. I'm going to exercise some patience, some self-control, you know. And of course, we know in verse 15 when he had made a scourge of small courts, he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and oxen and poured out the changers money and overthrew the table. So of course, now he's angry. He's upset. So that first definition can kind of leave a person confused that they don't know the Bible very well to thinking that anger is bad. Because literally says, hey, it's being able to tolerate trouble, even suffering, but without being angry or upset. Here's another definition from dictionary.com that I think is a little bit more biblical. And I like a little bit more than the first one. And dictionary.com says this. The quality of being patient as bearing a provocation, annoyance, misfortune or pain without complaint, loss of temper. And that's kind of what you see in Jesus Christ. He didn't lose his temper. I'm sure he was upset, but he didn't start complaining to everyone like, what is going on? What in the world? It took him a while to make that whip. So you could tell that he did walk away upset, came back and did what he had to do to fix the problem. You know, but this is what you see in Job. If you have your Bible, you know, just going to meet me at Job 122, Job chapter number one, verse 22. I'm just going to read, you know, from verse 20, 21. And this is what it says. It says, then Job arose and ran his master and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground in worship and said, naked came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I be turned thither. The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And in all this, Job said not, nor charged God foolishly. And if you know the Bible, if you know that story, he lost everything. He lost his business. You know, he lost his animals. But more importantly, he lost his children, all 10 of them. And that's something huge, you know. But yet he didn't charge God foolishly and he didn't lose his cool. He obviously did what he had to do. He shaved his head. He was just trying to get right with God. He even gave glory to the Lord. So that showed a little bit more what that dictionary definition, which is, you know, burying, provocation, annoyance, misfortune, pain. He did all that without just charging God foolishly, without complaining to him. Like, God, what in the world is going on? I'm serving you. I'm doing what's right. And this happens. He didn't do any of that. And the Bible says that he was the example of patience. So when it comes to patience, you can start to kind of see that has to do with suffering a little bit. So William Webster's dictionary or definition of, you know, patience is this, the capacity, habit or fact of being patient. That was OK. But when I looked up the word patient itself, it kind of gave a better definition. It says the capacity of habit or fact of being patient. When I looked up that word patient, it says this, bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint. And that's what you see Jesus Christ doing. That's what you see Job doing. What are they doing? They're suffering, but they're not complaining. They're keeping their composure. They're not just blowing up. They're watching what they're doing. And that's exactly what that Navy SEAL said. He said, hey, a patient warrior is in control of his emotions, his actions, his desires. But the one that has reckless impatience, he's the one that's going to risk people's lives. He's the one that's going to mess up. So when it comes to patience, yes, we should be loving. We should be humble people. And I'm not saying that those things are not important. But one of the things that I think is left out a lot is patience. People tend to make excuses for it. I'm not just I'm not that patient of a person. You know, I don't know. I just don't know if I could be that patient. But God commands us to be patient. He wants us to be patient. And we see it all over scripture. But if I have to like even minimize the definition more when it comes to what does patient really mean, brother Segura, I'll just try to use the biblical word that I think kind of sum it up. And that word is long suffering. That word is long suffering. What does it even mean? Take those two words, suffering and long. So when it comes to being patient, hey, just face it. It involves some suffering. So if I were to say, hey, you know what? Be patient with brother such and such. What am I saying? Hey, suck it up. Yes, he's going to know you. Be patient with him. Give him a chance to grow. Hey, don't just blow up at him. You know, show a little bit of patience. But I'll show you some verses to kind of get the idea of what God means when he's like, hey, be long suffered. It says in Galatians 522. And if you have your Bible, go back to Job. Or if you're in Job, stay at Job and just meet me at Job 112. We're going to look at his life a little bit more in detail. You know, but when it comes to Galatians 522, it says this, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. Second Peter 3 9. You see right there that says the fruit of the Spirit is long suffering. Well, that's where our Father in heaven is. He's a long suffering God. And second Peter reminds us of that. Since the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but it's long suffering. So if long suffering is patience, it says he's patient towards us. Why? Because he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So if God in heaven is long suffering with us, hey, we need to do that as well and be long suffering towards other people. And just be patient with them, whatever level they're in. And remember the church at Ephesus was being praised for being a church that works and a church that's patient. And that's my goal for my church, and it's the goal for your church as well, I hope, that you're known as a church that's a church that works, and also a church that's patient with people. And not a church that's just high and mighty on itself. And when somebody comes in, they may not be even at whoever's level, we kind of look down on that person, we kind of start judging that person, we start complaining about an individual, or we even bring that individual to the leadership right away. And it's like his first week, you know? It's like, give him a chance, relax, calm down, show a little bit of patience, buddy annoys me, you know what he said? He says he believes this, the long hair is fine on the man, etc, etc. It's like, yeah, you know what the Bible says, but hey, he may not have been able to study it out like you, you know? Plus, he heard it from a sermon, and that's how you got it right, hey, he probably needs to hear it as well. You know, so we need to watch out that, hey, we look at patience, kind of like, hey, if I get to it, I get to it. But you know what? Humility, oh yeah, absolutely. You know what? I'm not watching my pride, for sure, I got to watch out for that. My anger, yeah, I need to keep my anger in check. But patience, you know what? I struggle with that. Well, you know what? Get good at it. Because you're commanded to be a patient individual, you're commanded to be a person that learns how to suck it up and suffer, you know, when it comes to people that may not be where you're at. And look, I've been saved for about 16 years, and it takes a lot of work to get where I'm at, and stay kind of where I'm at, and I don't even think of where I want to be. You know, I look at such and such, I'm like, man, I wish I was more like this guy or that person or whoever, because they're great role models. But I'm just thinking, hey, just keep working at it. Sooner or later, I'm hoping to get to that stage. But you know what? We all need to aim high, and God wants us all to be patient people, not just people that watch for our pride. But when it comes to, you know, patience, just remember that word, long suffering. That should kind of help you out. You know, God is long suffering towards us. He'll suffer a long time with us. Why? Because he doesn't want to just destroy us when we mess up. He's not the God. He's an unjust God, and we have a foolish thought. He's just like striking us with lightning. No. He sees the potential of this individual winning souls for the rest of his life. He's going to say, hey, I'm going to back off him. He's going in the right direction. You know, it's like, hey, I'm going to be patient with him, and so should we when we see individuals that may be a little slower than usual as far as getting to where you think they should be. You know, but we need to watch out that we don't lose patience with individuals, especially if they're not up to anything bad. You know, so just remember this. You got dumb, and you got damnable. You know, somebody believes something dumb, and let it go. You know, unless they're doing something in the Bible, you know, that clearly gets them kicked out of church, you know, but if it's damnable, yeah, make a big stink about it. Bring it to the leadership. Hey, he's going around telling people that you have to repent of your sins to be saved, and if you don't speak in tongues, you're not saved whatsoever. That just happened at our church. So guess what? That wasn't a small matter. It happened like a week ago. As soon as we found out, it's like, hey, you're gone. Well, whatever, whatever, then we'll bring you before the church. He didn't show up because he knew what we were going to do. Get him out. We don't tolerate that, but just, of course, there have been other complaints, and it's just dumb stuff that people complain about, and it's like, look, that's just dumb stuff. Let it go. There's no reason to even get upset over that. Have patience, but I don't like hearing that. Suck it up. Hey, it is what it is. There's 300 people. Somebody's going to say something that you're not going to like, but if it's dumb, let it go. If it's damnable, then we'll do something about it real quick. But you're in Job 1-2. Let's take a look at Job 1-2 again. When it comes to that word longsuffering, I also looked it up, and this is what it came out in dictionary.com. The word longsuffering simply means to just have or to patiently endure lasting offenses or hardships. I'm sorry, dictionary.com says enduring injury, trouble, provocation, long, patiently. I'm not surprised the word longsuffering, when you look that up, has the word patient in it in both Merriam-Wipster's definition and dictionary.com as well. And the perfect example of this is, of course, Job, because it says that Satan ended up going to God, and God told him, hey, don't look at Job, my servant. He's like, oh, yeah, he's only serving you because you're doing X, Y, and Z. So, of course, he's like, well, go and destroy anything that he has. He loses his children. He loses everybody, his friends. He lost a lot of friends. He lost his animals, his business. Everything's taken away from him, but yet he didn't charge God foolishly. And what does James 5 say? He said, behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. So why is Job being used as an example? So for us, when bad things happen, to be like Job. Well, we're not charging God foolishly. We're taking that suffering. We're taking, you know, that trial or tribulation, whatever it may be that got through our way. Why? To make us better people. And when bad things happen to us, maybe God's trying to help you out with your patience, you know, just trying to get you to practice your patience a little bit, you know, because you may have humility down, but patience is also something else that we need to practice in life. Amen? So when it comes to patience, hey, let's have patience towards our family. If you got your Bible, go to Genesis chapter number 37, verse number three, Genesis 37 three. And I'm talking about your immediate family, your brothers, not your spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm talking about your wife, your children. You know, they're going to make mistakes. They're going to do things that are going to test you. But you know what? Just be calm, relax. Even when they're, you know, getting older, they're going to make probably more mistakes because then they're going to try different things. You know, your wife obviously needs to be patient with you. You need to be patient with her. You know, your brothers that may not be safe or they are safe. They're just living a lame life and looking down on you, et cetera, et cetera, you know. But if Joseph can show patience, and I believe he showed a lot of patience, and I'll go over it in a second. I think we can kind of match him as well, or at least try to get to where he was at because Joseph was an individual whose brothers hated him. And it says then they hated him more, and then they hated him even more. But yet you don't see him fighting with them. It says that they all hated him. And of course, it's easy to get along when people are cool with each other. But when you're living with a house of people that just hate you, at some point, hey, you're going to snap if you don't have patience. If you can't suffer their abuse, verbal abuse, whatever the case, hey, you're going to snap. It even happens at work. You know, Christians are like, yeah, man, I snapped at work. What happened? They were messing with me. It's like, man, you just need to be patient with these people. Don't worry about that. You need to just suffer them. You know, your boss doesn't like you arguing or fighting or cussing them out. And plus, they know that you read your Bible a lot. They're going to think Christianity is a joke. You know, so just calm down, relax, start afresh. And you know what? When they pick on you, you know what? You just do what you can to just be at peace with them. But try to work on your patience. You know that they're not perfect. Hey, you're saved. They're not. That should already speak a lot. You know, but let's just take a look at his life really quickly to see how it all started out. In verse number 37-3, it says, Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was a son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him. How would you like to live in a house where your brothers all hate you? That's not going to be easy. In order to get along, you're going to have to, you know, exercise a lot of patience. And at this age, she's young. He's not even in his 20s. And when his brethren saw their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren, and they hated him yet the more. So they're just continuing to hate Joseph. And he said unto them, Here I pray you this dream, which I have dreamed. For behold, we were buying the sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and also stood upright. And behold, your sheaf stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shall thou indeed reign over us? Now they're getting even more mad at him. Or shall thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dream. So it starts out saying his brothers hate him. They didn't hate him more. They didn't hate him even more. But yet you don't read about him having issues with them, fighting with them, fist fighting with them. So children, when your brothers are picking on you, when your brothers are giving you a hard time, hey, start to learn to exercise patience. Take it. Tell mom and dad, of course, but take it and learn to, you know, deal with your brothers. Try not to fight them because that's not patience. That's just you reacting and losing your patience. So what do we see? We see him being hated and hated and hated some more to the point where now they're trying to kill him. Look at verse 18. Now, I don't know about you, but I never had anybody out to kill me. I don't know if you've had, but I haven't, especially somebody who's family. But yet this is what Joseph has in his life right now. He has his brothers and they all hate him to the point where they want him dead. So it says that when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against them to slay him. You almost wonder, is this a true story? Man, they hate him, hate him, hate him no more. Now they're trying to kill him, but this is true as the day is long. And they say one to another, behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, therefore, and let us slay him. So they're making it clear, hey, we're about to kill this guy. And cast him into some pit and we will say some evil beast has devoured him and we shall see what will become of this dreamer. And Reuben heard it and he delivered him, praise the Lord for Reuben, and delivered him out of their hands and said, let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness and lay no hand upon him that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass when Joseph was coming to his brethren that they stripped Joseph out of his coat and his coat of many colors that was on him. And they sat down to eat bread and they lifted up their eyes and looked and behold, a company of Israelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and Merv going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? And of course, they sold them. Now, if you can't go to Genesis 44. So we know the story. He ends up becoming the second most powerful person. Of course, he went through some tribulations. You know, he was in jail. He was accused falsely of things that got him put in there. And then at some point he became the second most powerful person in the entire world. Well, I don't know if you ever thought about this, but I'm pretty sure just living life from day to day, once in a while, he probably thought of his mom or his dad and his brothers. It's just common sense that he would probably think about them. But when he had all that power, it's amazing how he had all that power and he never went after them. He never sought vengeance. I wonder why. Probably because he was still relying on that dream that he had where he knew at some point that's going to happen. So he probably learned patience through everything that he went through. And I'm sure after he just saw what he went through, it's kind of hard not to think that at some point he might not have had that thought where he said, you know what? I can just get an army right now. Go find my dad. And these guys, they deserve it. Look how wicked they were. They threw me in the pit. They sold me. But he never did that because he was probably thinking of that dream, that promise that he had received. And he just kind of kept this cool and never went after them. But we see right there in verse number 33 that even though Judah was the one that said, hey, let's sell them, Judah was the one that kind of switched and became a better person towards the time when he finally met them. And of course tricked them into not knowing who he was. They bring down his brother Benjamin. And now he's pretending like they stole something from him and he's trying to keep them. But this is what Judah ends up saying. Now, therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad. So now Judah's jumping in there and he's kind of switching his life for Benjamin's life. And he doesn't know how long he's going to be, you know, in bondage, you could say, a bondman until, you know, Joseph, even though at this point he doesn't know Joseph is, you know, but I'm glad that he didn't retaliate on Judah because he gave Judah a chance. Who knows? Just by thinking, well, I'm not going to go after them. I'm the most powerful person now. If I want to, I can just kind of go down there and it'll be justified because look what they did to me. You know, it's time to get some payback for what they did. You know, I lost 10 years of my life. I'm now the second most powerful person. Why don't I just go out after them, at least punish them and get my dad and bring him in? He didn't do any of that. Instead, he just let it be and it became something that happened naturally. They went to Egypt. They're bowing down on him. And now at this point, you kind of see that they did change from being these wicked individuals that just wanted him dead, sold him. Now what's going on? Now he's at the point where he's even sacrificing himself to save his younger brother. And so it says, for how shall I go up to my father and lad, you know, and the lad be not with me? Let's prevent or see the evil that should come on my father. And then he, of course, tells him, hey, you know, it's me, Joseph. You know, it ends up, you know, becoming like a happy story. But the thing I wanted to point out is that you see how they treated him. They hated him. They hated him. They hated him more. They tried to kill him at one point. They threw him in a pit. He obviously, they sold him into slavery. He suffered for the next 10 years in prison, accused of rape, et cetera, et cetera. And then what happens because the most powerful person and yet he doesn't go after them. You know why? Probably because he's thinking, you know what, it's not something that that's worth it. It's not something that I need to go do myself. He probably restrained himself. I'm sure he thought about it. Like, you know what, I should go down there and execute, you know, punishment on them, justice, whatever the case may be. But he didn't. He just continued to just be the ruler. At that point, God allows it to work out. Would they not come to him? Now the dream's coming true. They're firing down on him. He's the most powerful person, even though Pharaoh's on top of him. Then at this point, it shows that his brothers, you know, went from being super wicked to just changing and becoming pretty decent guys. And then what do we see towards the end? After Jacob dies, they even lie to him. And I don't know if he knew later on that they had lied to him. But if you're right there in Genesis 50, 16, you know, let's see how things ended up. Even though Joseph had all the reasons in the world to retaliate on his brothers, he never did that. Because he had patience with his family, in my opinion. And it says, saying, So they're just saying, hey, you know what? We did evil unto you and we know that. And now we pray thee forgive the trespasses of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face. And they said, behold, we be thy servants. And I like how this ends. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for I am in the place of God. So they have this guy, this messenger, go to Joseph and pretty much lie and say, hey, dad, before he died, wanted you to forgive us for the evil that we did unto you. So you can show that they repented. They feel bad for what they've done. But just imagine if he just never let it go. Imagine if Joseph just kept that grudge and once he got enough power, he actually went after his brothers and maybe just punished them, maybe not killed them, but maybe threw them in jail. You can tell he kind of did that once they showed up in Egypt, he locked one of them up and he kind of made him suffer a little bit. Kind of like that payback for way back type of deal. You know, but at this stage of Joseph's life, hey, I'm glad he never lost patience and he never just said, forget it. You know what? I want my dad. You know what? Forget it. I know the dream says that they're going to bow down to me. But you know what? I'm tired of waiting. I'm just going to go find them. And when I find my brothers, hey, you know what I'm going to do to them? What they did to me. He didn't do any of that. Towards the end, they all mature up. And what happens? This is what it says. Fear not, for I'm in the place of God. But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring it to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. And I like this. Now therefore, fear not, I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them. So Joseph went from, hey, you know what? I'm treating you bad right now. But now, hey, I'm going to take care of you, even though they don't deserve it, in my opinion. But he still let that go. It's almost like he let them just grow. It was the last 10 years. He just let them grow. They got to the point where now they're one big happy family. And that's kind of what we should be with people that we have in our lives. It could be our cousins, brothers, whoever. Even our kids, when they mess up, hey, just suffer it. Let it go. Obviously, if it's something big, you need to discipline your kids. But the majority of the time, you and I both know that kids are going to be kids. And if it's not direct disobedience, we need to just kind of just hold our cool and not blow up and show them that, hey, this is how you should be when bad things happen. Just keep yourself under control. Nice and calm because you're going to grow up. You're going to end up going into the workforce and you want to teach your sons, hey, this is the way to deal with bad things go bad. Just keep your cool. Keep your calm. Have patience. Well, dad, this employee that works with us, he's such a pain in the butt. Have patience with that person. You know, exercise some patience. You know, it's good practice here in church, kids, you know, get along with each other. You're going to run into guys or kids and they're going to do things that you may not like or whatever the kids might be. But you have to learn to let things go. It'll help you grow up to be a better person. So patience is something that we should exercise like Joseph towards his family because he never lost patience with them. And as he's growing up and they're hating them, you don't read about him fighting them. You don't read about him hating them in their hearts. They hate him, but it doesn't show that he hates them. You know, but towards the end of his life, look what he does. He just says, hey, you know what, I'm going to take care of you. Hey, let the past be the past. Let it go. You know, same thing. We're going to have church members that are going to do things to us. Hopefully just let it go in 10 years down the road. You're being kind to them, you know, because people won't disappoint you. As the church gets bigger, you're going to have friends. And the next thing you know, something's going to happen. You're not going to be friends anymore. You know, someone's going to do something. You're going to get offended. But you know what? Let's be like Joseph for 10 years down the road. You're nurturing each other and you're treating each other kindly. And you're speaking kindly to each other because guess what? The enemy is not each other. It's the world. You know, we already have the flesh that we have to deal with as well. You know, but when it comes to God's house, God wants peace in our house. And one way to do it is to be long-suffering individuals where we can just put up with the littlest things and let it go and not turn into anything bigger. But not just our family. Also, you know, our church members is who we should execute patience with. If you have your Bible, go to Galatians 5-1. Galatians 5-1. Because just your family, your children, your wife, you know, as a father, I need to just realize that patience is something I want to show my kids so they're not just growing up to be this impatient individuals and they're just losing their cool. And not just that. When my brothers, my actual brothers, who don't agree with me, don't think like me, you know, they don't even know the Bible. When they say things and do things that are obviously, you know, causing me to just get a little frustrated, I just have to realize that, hey, you know what? They don't know the Bible. Just be patient unto them and they'll come around, hopefully, in ten years like Joseph's brothers. But if you're right there in Galatians 5-1, it says, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And being that entangled again with the yoke of bondage, go to verse 15 because that one has nothing to do with patience. I just wanted to read it because it says, Stand fast, amen. But verse 15, If you bite and devour one another, of course, this is talking about church members. It says, If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And a lot of times when we do have problems with somebody in the church and it's not damn noble heresy, it could just be dumb stuff. It's because you're in the flesh and you don't even know it. You think, man, this person's got me so upset. Look at what they're saying. Look what's coming out of their mouth. Do you believe they said that? Do you believe they said this? But in reality, it's not them. It's you. You're in the flesh. That's why to you it seems like a big deal to everybody else. It's like, dude, that's not a big deal. You know, who cares? Let him grow. Let him learn the Bible more. He's only been here for, what, two weeks? Verse 17, For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you've been led of the Spirit, so this is how you know if you're under the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, the cleaning, the shipping, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, immolations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envious murders, drunkenness, revelance, and such like. I wish I'd tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and what? Long suffering, which is what? Patience. Patience. So for the people that are like, Man, that's not a big deal. Let him grow. It's just some guy that's new. You know, give him a chance. Don't worry about it. You know, you're in the Spirit. For the person that says, He believed. He just said this. It's like, Man, that guy's been here three weeks. You know, give him a chance. Let him grow. Hold back any criticism. We forgot how we started. Long suffering for bearing one another in love and daring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, and that should be the goal of every single one of us. Of course, yes, we're talking about patience, and there's other things that go with being a good Christian, like being a peacemaker, like I said before, humility. You know, but this one, I'm just letting people know that it gets brought up a lot, long suffering, patience, and when you see it in the New Testament a lot, it has to do with Christians getting along with each other. You know, so it's something that you've got to get good at if you want to be a leader in the church. It's something you've got to get good at if you want to be a good dad or a good husband. You've just got to work at patience like crazy, just like anything else, but sometimes we do tend to make excuses for patience as if it's something cool when you just bring up the fact that you're not that patient of a person. Sorry, not that patient of a person. Don't make excuses. Just realize that it's said not to have patience in your life, not to be good at patience. So Ephesians 4.1. I'll just read it. You go to Colossians 3. It says, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation, whereof ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, there is again, forbearing one another in love. Putting up with each other is what he's saying. Hey, let's just be patient with one another. Meekness, yes, lowliness, yes, forbearing, putting up with each other, and daring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Colossians 3.10, and put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, but burying, seeking the end, bond nor free, but crisis, all in and all, put on there for the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and there you go, longsuffering, and it says it again, forbearing one another. It's just part of life. Being church members, got to learn to just forbear, put up with other people, being patient, suffering, you know, their attitude, their personality, just got to do it, just the way it is. If any man have a quarrel against any, even if Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Now, 2 Timothy 3.8, I'm just going to skip a few and just go down to verse number 10. Paul is just saying, hey, there's going to be wicked people coming into church, but this is what I have to do to deal with them. I have to be full of charity, patience, persecutions, and longsuffering. I have to have faith. You know, 2 Timothy 4.1 says this, I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, and his appearance, and his kingdom, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering. All longsuffering. So preachers need to practice this and have this. They need to have this in order to be able to do their job. They have to have that patience where they can look at someone and say, you know what, they're new. It's not a big deal. Let's just move on. You know, and as church members, we need to have that patience, that longsuffering as well, to have the maturity to say, look, we just got to move on. It is what it is. It's not damnable. It's just dumb. Hey, let it go. They're just growing. Just let them go. As long as they're coming here, going the right direction, they're growing, amen. 2 Timothy 2.23 says this, But foolish and unlearning questions avoid, knowing that they do their gender strives, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men apt to teach, and there's that word, patience. If meekness is trusting those that oppose themselves, a God-perventured would give them repentance to the knowledging of the truth. And like I said before, a patient warrior is in control of his emotions, his actions, his desires, and they're not reckless. They're not impatient to the point where they risk relationships. And the reason I'm preaching on this is because recently at my church, there was an individual that lost patience with somebody else, and they blew up on him. And there was no reason for that to happen. Other than the fact, in my personal opinion, it was just pride. It's only about pride coming to contention. So, of course, it's something that didn't even need to happen. We got a new believer. He believed something that the majority of the church does not. Sure enough, in the vehicle, there were a few people talking about that subject, and this one individual took it upon himself, and he lost his patience. And he started ranting on them, saying, well, you're this, and you're that, and you're whatever. And I'm sure in his head he's thinking that he's doing what's right, but guess what? Everybody in the vehicle didn't think this individual was all screwed up. They thought the one that lost his patience was all screwed up. Funny how the fear of the wicked comes upon you. You see what I'm saying? His idea is like, I need to stop this right now. I need to stop this heresy, whatever it was. And it was heresy, in my opinion, but it's dumb. It was something dumb. But then when he told us about it, we're like, seriously, that's what happened? And so we have to kind of make it very clear to this individual, hey, you need to just exercise patience. When people like that are in the church, they're here to grow. They want to know the truth. They may have certain ideas because they've been brainwashed, and it is what it is. Coming to church helps you untie these knots that false religion has tied in your life that you just can't let go sometimes that easy. You know, because you've been told your whole life X, Y, and Z, then you're here for the first time. Hey, it may not be easy for you to untie that knot, but it takes time to untie a knot. I mean, seriously, when your kids tie these knots, doesn't it annoy you? It's just like, vroom, it's like, what is this? And you're like trying, like, right? It's no different with new believers. It's like they have to deal with all the false stuff that they've been taught from their previous religion, but they're at these type of churches for a reason because they love the truth, and they want to know what the truth really is, and they want to preach the truth, so of course they're going to talk about things, and they're going to say things that are in their heart, and if they're wrong, they're wrong, and if they're damnable, it's time to do something about it, but if it's dumb, let it go. Be patient, but I'm sick of hearing you say that. Hey, don't involve yourself in the conversation. Just move on, you know, but not just that. Recently, this pastor who's not an old IFB guy, not the numb guy, he's trying to go the right route. He knows about Pastor Anderson. He knows about Pastor Miss. He's just trying to go in the right direction, trying to figure things out so he can lead his church, and sure enough, people are just drilling him because he doesn't have the actual vocabulary that we have. You know, they're like, well, you know what? I don't trust this guy. This guy said this. I don't know what that's what people say in the numb churches, you know? Well, I asked him about it, and he told me this, and I don't believe him. He's like, well, what else do you want? You know, it's like you already asked him. He already gave you the answer. You don't like the answer? Let it go. If you're curious, fine, but now it seems like you're just trying to cause trouble, and yes, he's a pastor. He should be at a higher level, but you know what? He's not an OISB guy. He's an unknown guy trying to go the right route. Just because he doesn't have the name Baptist doesn't mean that he doesn't want to be like a Baptist. It's just that legalism isn't that easy to switch the name, you know? So it's like, hey, who are you? You don't have to have patience with this individual, you know? It's like, hey, yeah, you may not like the way you say things, and it may bother you on the inside, but that's what patience is, sucking it up, suffering it. So that God prevent you from giving repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth, amen? So when it comes to patience, hey, have patience with your kids, your wife, even your unsaved relatives, but also especially with your church members, let's practice patience with them even more, amen? Because obviously it's hard to fill up a church, and then a new believer shows up, and then some knucklehead who's filled with the flesh ends up offending them, and he leaves. It's like, man, it's hard to get people in and get the word out, and to build a church is tough, and you're breaking it down? Come on. Let that person hear from the pulpit, and if it comes to you and asks you about it, then yeah, but don't just blow up on him. He's not even talking to you. He's not even saying anything to you. He doesn't even have any issues with you, but it will happen. That's what I'm saying. We need to watch out that, hey, we take patience serious, you know? So we're not in that vehicle, and because somebody says something, and it annoys us, and we're like in a flash, then we blow up on him, and it's like, what? He wasn't even talking to you. He gets the right to just jump into a conversation and start accusing him of all kinds of stuff. He's a new guy. Give him a chance. Plus what he's saying is not even damnable, so why even freak out like that? But not just being patient with our own relatives, our own church members, hey, be patient with the promises of God. This is why I think people leave the churches because they tried it. It didn't work out. No, you just weren't patient enough to wait for the promise to come. What do I mean by that? Obviously, look what he's saying right here. I know that it works in thy labor and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars, and it says really clearly, and has borne, and has patience for my name's sake, and has labored, and not fainted. Why did this church continue to serve the Lord, and it didn't faint? Because of Psalms 27, 13. I have fainted unless I have believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. So sometimes we see promises in the Bible, and we're trying to live a Christian life, and God may just be testing you, but a lot of people just give up and say, you know what? It's not working for me. I tried going to church three times a week, and my life didn't change. Well, you know what? You need a little bit more patience, because if God says, hey, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and these things will be added unto you, then if it ain't happening, it's because you have to wait a little longer. People lose their patience super quick when it comes to the promises of God. When it says, over and over, I have fainted. Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. You know, Satan, I doubt, will recompense evil, but wait on the Lord, and He shall save thee. Instead, people take things into their own hands, and they start doing things they shouldn't do, because they lose patience. That's the reality, is they lose patience. They don't want to continue to suffer and have to deal with the balls, pressuring them to work on a Wednesday night, or pressuring them to come in on a Sunday night. So there's like, man, I tried it, and my ball still doesn't change, so they give in. You know, but sometimes people just want to be in the spotlight, and they're like, man, you know what? I'm sick of people not noticing me. You know, hey, chill, relax, be patient. People will notice your good deeds without you having to make it a big deal. Why? Because that's how God works. Where does He say that in the Bible? Hey, that the arms may be in secret, and the Father which sees in secret, Himself shall reward thee openly. Hey, just keep on doing things behind the scenes, you know, and you'll get glory. Don't worry. If nobody knows who you are, you keep doing what's right. We'll figure it out sooner or later, because God's going to reward you openly. You know, when it comes to your prayers, not that anybody here just wants to pray, just to pray and be noticed, but that's another problem is where God will reward thee openly. When thou prays, enter into thy closet, and when thou shalt shut the door, pray to the Father which is in secret, and the Father which sees in secret, shall reward thee openly. You know, Matthew 6 33, if I seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. I tried church. I tried reading. I tried praying. I tried soul winning. Hey, you know what? My life's not getting any better. Well, maybe God wants you to suffer a little bit longer, you know, but don't lose your patience. It's promising you that it will happen. God will take care of you. God will take care of every single need. I'm still in the red, my friend. I keep serving the Lord. I need to whatever work on Sunday or whatever day to make up the money. Look, just continue to be patient, and guess what? God will come through. He promises that He will come through, but the promise is if you're patient upon Him. You know, He wants to teach you to be a person that can endure suffering, because Joseph had to suffer how many years? Ten? You fear he was the most powerful person? Don't you think in those times he wasn't tempted to just quit and be like, is this dream even something legit that I had? You know, it's like, man, you know, he could have just lost patience and started to fall into sin. He could have lost patience, you know, with that promise that God gave him, that dream that God gave him and committed adultery. You know, he could have lost patience with all of that, but he decided to just endure the hardness to suck it up, and when I say patience, I remember I'm asking you to suffer. And I say, hey, be patient with your pastor. Be patient with your pastor. Hey, what's going on? We've been praying and fasting, and we still don't got a guy up here. What's going on? You know what? I don't know. I'm going to go find a church that I think can whatever. Just be patient. Your leader is coming. God knows who he is. Maybe in this room, I don't know. I really don't know what's going on behind the scenes at all when it comes to this church. I haven't heard anything negative about this church whatsoever, but I'll tell you what, the Bible promises that God will provide, but it's easy to lose patience and not to take church serious. Ah, you know, we didn't even have a pastor, and it can start to break down on the inside. But what God wants you to do is just remain faithful, remain patient, suffer a little bit, and yeah, you know what? It is what it is. People are rotating through. I went through that as well at some point. When my pastor left, we had people coming in left and right, and it didn't seem like church. It didn't seem serious for some reason. Just something about having somebody there all the time that makes it a little bit easier to take church serious, but we had those times in my old church where they were just rotating through, rotating through, and we're like, man, are we ever going to get a pastor? Well, I ended up coming across Pastor Anderson, so in my personal life, he gave me somebody better. You know, so I just stayed patient. I didn't leave, but there were a lot of people that left my old IFB church, and it was a decent church. The people were great. They just didn't take it serious because once a pastor left, they said, well, the pastor doesn't, you know, want to stick around, and they ended up making excuses. They lost patience. They left, and sure enough, I came across Pastor Anderson, so I ended up moving to another state, you know, to go to his church and be under a great man of God. You know, but that's the thing about just rewards. Be careful, you know. God will reward you. If you're like, man, you know what? I just want people to notice my hard work. I will notice it, and plus, that's not something that necessarily you should be aiming towards, being the guy that everybody is like always saying, hey, great job, great job, great job. You know, it's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit. You'll be shocked out of your mind how much as a church you'll accomplish when nobody cares who gets the credit. You know, it's like, hey, brother, great job on that. Actually, it was his idea. He did it. No, it's actually my wife. No, it was my kids. You know, it just keeps going down the pipeline. You know, but of course, you know, when somebody's glorifying you, take it, but in reality, don't seek it. It's amazing when you don't seek it. It tends to come a lot more, you know, and it comes almost a hundredfold sometimes, but other than that, the whole goal of this sermon is just to remind you that patience is something that we cannot just make excuses. We have to work at it. You know, just be patient with your family, your church members, especially the new ones that are going to be popping up, and they will be popping up, and you'll be wondering, like, man, is this guy even serious about being here? You know, he hasn't changed a bit. Just give him time. They will. They come in, and they're, you know, some wild man that just deletes all kinds of stuff. You'll be surprised how they'll change if you give them enough time and you're patient with them. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Father, thank you for all that you've done for us. We ask you, dear Father, to just bless this church, and we know that you have a leader in mind there, God, and we ask you to bring him, and not just that, dear Lord, I pray that the church just grows to five, six hundred, and not just that, dear Father, I pray that all Oklahoma will know that there is a church, you know, in this state that is definitely on fire for you, and that other churches may be inspired by this group of people that are here. I'm just amazed at the size of this group, and not only that, dear Father, it's been a year since they opened up. Thank you for all the blessings that you've given them. Thank you for this place that they're in right now. It's a privilege to be able to have a church these days, and thank you so much for all that you've done, and I pray that you just help them with their patience, and I pray that you just give them the fruit of the Spirit, and that you take care of everybody here, especially for showing up on Sunday night. I pray that you give them a special blessing financially, physically, whatever it is that they need. I pray that you give it to them. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.