Untitled Sermon

1pa•tient \ˈpā-shənt\ adjective

[Middle English pacient, from Anglo-French, from Latin patient-, patiens, from present participle of pati to suffer; perhaps akin to Greek pēma suffering] 14th century

1: bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint

That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity

ad•ver•si•ty \ad-ˈvər-sə-tē\ noun

plural -ties 13th century: a state, condition, or instance of serious or continued difficulty or adverse fortune synonym see MISFORTUNE

thank•ful \ˈthaŋk-fəl\ adjective

before 12th century

1: conscious of benefit received 〈for what we are about to receive make us truly thankful〉

2: expressive of thanks 〈thankful service〉

3: well pleased: GLAD 〈was thankful that it didn’t rain〉—thank•ful•ness noun

pros•per•i•ty \prä-ˈsper-ə-tē\ noun

13th century: the condition of being successful or thriving especially: economic well-being

Providence Teaches and Refines through Suffering

Deut. 8:5; Job 5:17–18; Job 36:8–10, 12; Ps. 94:12–13; Ps. 119:67, 71; Prov. 3:11–12; Isa. 26:8–9, 16; Isa. 48:10; Dan. 11:35; Hos. 5:14–15; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:2–3; Heb. 12:4–11

I. Patient in Adversity

1. The knowledge that in every adversity God’s hand has a directing influence, is to be of this advantage to us, that we are to learn from it to be patient. Heb. 10:36, James 1:2, 3.

2. Patience, the proper demeanor in adversity (i.e., in every sorrow and need), in view of the knowledge of the Providence of God, consists:

a) In humble submission to the will of God. Dan. 4:35, 2 Sam. 15:25, 26; 16:10, 1 Tim. 6:7.

b) The calm resignation to the will of God. Psalm 39:9; 73:24, 2 Cor. 12:8, 9.

3. The earthly life is for every child of God a school of suffering. In it there are three classes. The first say: This I must suffer; “but the right hand of the Most High can change it all.” Ps. 77:10. The second say: I will gladly suffer; for “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.” Rom. 8:18. The third say: I rejoice in suffering; for I have in it a seal of my sonship in Christ. Heb. 12:5–9, Rom. 5:3, 2 Cor. 4:10. Compare Heb. 12:8.

7. God’s providence in prosperity*

The servant of God, strengthened both by these promises and by examples, will join thereto the testimonies which teach that all men are under his power, whether their minds are to be conciliated, or their malice to be restrained that it may not do harm. For it is the Lord who gives us favor, not alone among those who wish us well, but even “in the eyes of the Egyptians” [Ex. 3:21]; indeed, he knows how to shatter the wickedness of our enemies in various ways. For sometimes he takes away their understanding so that they are unable to comprehend anything sane or sober, as when he sends forth Satan to fill the mouths of all the prophets with falsehood in order to deceive Ahab [1 Kings 22:22]. He drives Rehoboam mad by the young men’s advice that through his own folly he may be despoiled of the kingdom [1 Kings 12:10, 15]. Sometimes when he grants them understanding, he so frightens and dispirits them that they do not wish, or plan, to carry out what they have conceived. Sometimes, also, when he permits them to attempt what their lust and madness has prompted, he at the right moment breaks off their violence, and does not allow their purpose to be completed. Thus Ahitophel’s advice, which would have been fatal for David, he destroyed before its time [2 Sam. 17:7, 14]. Thus, also, it is his care to govern all creatures for their own good and safety; and even the devil himself, who, we see, dared not attempt anything against Job without His permission and command [Job 1:12].

Gratitude of mind for the favorable outcome of things, patience in adversity, and also incredible freedom from worry about the future all necessarily follow upon this knowledge. Therefore whatever shall happen prosperously and according to the desire of his heart, God’s servant will attribute wholly to God, whether he feels God’s beneficence through the ministry of men, or has been helped by inanimate creatures. For thus he will reason in his mind: surely it is the Lord who has inclined their hearts to me, who has so bound them to me that they should become the instruments of his kindness toward me. In abundance of fruits he will think: “It is the Lord who ‘hears’ the heaven, that the heaven may ‘hear’ the earth, that the earth also may ‘hear’ its offspring” [cf. Hos. 2:21–22, Vg.; 2:22–23, EV]. In other things he will not doubt that it is the Lord’s blessing alone by which all things prosper. Admonished by so many evidences, he will not continue to be ungrateful.

8. Certainty about God’s providence helps us in all adversities

If anything adverse happens, straightway he will raise up his heart here also unto God, whose hand can best impress patience and peaceful moderation of mind upon us. If Joseph had stopped to dwell upon his brothers’ treachery, he would never have been able to show a brotherly attitude toward them. But since he turned his thoughts to the Lord, forgetting the injustice, he inclined to gentleness and kindness, even to the point of comforting his brothers and saying: “It is not you who sold me into Egypt, but I was sent before you by God’s will, that I might save your life” [Gen. 45:5, 7–8 p.]. “Indeed you intended evil against me, but the Lord turned it into good.” [Gen. 50:20, cf. Vg.] If Job had turned his attention to the Chaldeans, by whom he was troubled, he would immediately have been aroused to revenge; but because he at once recognized it as the Lord’s work, he comforts himself with this most beautiful thought: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” [Job 1:21]. Thus David, assailed with threats and stones by Shimei, if he had fixed his eyes upon the man, would have encouraged his men to repay the injury; but because he knows that Shimei does not act without the Lord’s prompting, he rather appeases them: “Let him alone,” he says, “because the Lord has ordered him to curse” [2 Sam. 16:11]. By this same bridle he elsewhere curbs his inordinate sorrow: “I have kept silence and remained mute,” says he, “because thou hast done it, O Jehovah” [Ps. 39:9 p.]. bIf there is no more effective remedy for anger and impatience, he has surely benefited greatly who has so learned to meditate upon God’s providence that he can always recall his mind to this point: the Lord has willed it; therefore it must be borne, not only because one may not contend against it, but also because he wills nothing but what is just and expedient. To sum this up: when we are unjustly wounded by men, let us overlook their wickedness (which would but worsen our pain and sharpen our minds to revenge), remember to mount up to God, and learn to believe for certain that whatever our enemy has wickedly committed against us was permitted and sent by God’s just dispensation.

Paul, to restrain us from retaliation for injuries, wisely points out that our struggle “is not with flesh and blood” [Eph. 6:12], but with our spiritual enemy the devil [Eph. 6:11], in order that we may prepare ourselves for the combat. Yet a most useful admonition to still all impulses to wrath is that God arms both the devil and all the wicked for the conflict, and sits as a judge of the games to exercise our patience.

But if the destruction and misery that press upon us happen without human agency, let us recall the teaching of the law: “Whatever is prosperous flows from the fountain of God’s blessing, and all adversities are his curses” [Deut. 28:2 ff., 15 ff. p.]. eLet this dreadful warning terrify us: “If you happen to walk contrary to me, I will also happen to walk contrary to you” [Lev. 26:23–24, cf. Comm.]. In these words our sluggishness is rebuked as a crime; for after the common sense of the flesh we regard as fortuitous whatever happens either way, whether good or evil, and so are neither aroused by God’s benefits to worship him, nor stimulated by lashes to repentance. e(b)It is for this same reason that Jeremiah and Amos bitterly expostulated with the Jews, for they thought both good and evil happened without God’s command [Lam. 3:38; Amos 3:6]. In the same vein is Isaiah’s declaration: “I, God, creating light and forming darkness, making peace and creating evil: I, God, do all these things” [Isa. 45:7, cf. Vg.].