WESTSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH
PASTOR: TERRY VAUGHAN
SERMON TITLE: IS THERE PROFIT IN PATIENCE?
“For God so loved the world , that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18
TEXT VERSE: Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in heart.”
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning. I have found that to be true. When you’re starting out on a journey, often times you wonder what is going to become of you. Trying to look into the future; knowing we can’t, we just have to go on in faith. Thank God Jesus knows not only where we’re starting but where we are going to end up. I’m glad that he’s in charge and I’m not. If we were in charge we’d mess up a lot of things. The end of a thing is always better than the beginning. I think about eternal life in the life of a Christian. This is not an easy way that we’re living in this life down here. It’s like we’re out of place. Thank God Christ came into the world to save sinners. Peter said we’re Pilgrims and strangers passing through this land. I’m glad this is not my final resting place. I’m glad we’ve got a better place to go one day after awhile. Thank God the end of this thing is going to be a whole lot better than the beginning was. I want to preach to you tonight on: Is there profit in patience?
You’ve heard people who have said they have prayed for patience and they say they had the worst week of their life. You don’t have to pray for patience. If you’re a child of God you possess patience in the Lord Jesus Christ already. But you do have to know how to utilize patience. How to wait upon the Lord. How to have long suffering. Often times we as Christians seem to get in a hurry. We try to work things out for God instead of letting God work things out for us. I have news for you tonight, if we’ll just have patience and wait upon the Lord, there’s profit in patience tonight. In James 5:11 it says “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.” You read on Job 1 where he went through a lot of suffering. But you read on Job 42 that Job had more in the end than in the beginning. He might have lost everything he had in this world but I have good news for you tonight; he gained everything that God in store for him. A lot of things in this life are pleasurable. They aren’t profitable. A lot of things we go through are hard. They are trying and things get rough. trying to be a good Christian gets rough. along the way but thank God aren’t you glad Jesus said, “I’ll go with you.” He said he’d never leave us nor forsake us. Now let me share these things with you.
Number one: If you have patience in the Lord you’ll find that it brings forth power. A lot of people don’t believe that. If you’ll just trust in the Lord and have patience in him you’ll end up gaining some power. Some strength in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you how it works. God is the giver of our strength. Through the power of his blessedness of his son and we receive it with the holy spirit. But Paul said when I’m weak, then am I strong. The power of God does not come because of what we do. The power of God comes by what we can’t do. I want you to know tonight that we as children of God can do nothing but God can do all things. I’m glad he’s there for us. So having patience in the Lord brings forth power. Isaiah 40:31 says this “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up as wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” There’s nothing that will strengthen a Christian anymore than having patience that God is going to give you strength to make it in this life. That’s what we need tonight. We need some strength. We need some power. I thought about that King in the old Testament as he laid his head upon a stone. He took a stone and the Bible said he made himself a pillar. Rested his head on that stone. His was weak in his journey and God sent an angel and said take this food and this drink and be strong and the Bible said he got up and went forty more days on his journey. He changed the pillow into a pillar and began to stand on the solid rock and that solid rock is Christ. He received power. If we try to receive power on our own, we’ll never do it.
Number two: We’ll receive through patience in Christ, perfection. Jesus said be ye perfect even as I have been. We know we can’t be perfect. But Paul said I press toward the mark of the high calling of God. He didn’t say I reached it. He said I press towards it. James 1:3-4 says this “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” You don’t have to beg for nothing. You don’t have to ask for nothing. If you have patience in an Almighty God and you’re a child of God, it brings perfection in your life. People wonder why they are always in want and in need. Why they are always doing without. God will never let you go without if you’re trusting in Him. If you have patience in Him, you’ll never do without the things that you need. You might have to do without some wants. But you’ll not have to do without your needs. Paul said in Philippians 4:19 “My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory.” So having patience in Him brings perfection in a saints life.
Number three: We’ll receive through patience in Christ, prosperity. But when Christians go through it they say, “Oh Me!” I’ll never pray for patience again. I told you, you don’t have to pray for patience. You’ve already got it if you’re a child of God. Look at Lamentations 3:25. It says “The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” That brings prosperity in your life. A lot of times when we’re waiting upon the Lord the old devil will come along and tell us that patience is something bad and that we’re not going to get what we need. If you have patience in an Almighty God, you are going to prosper from it. He’s going to bring you to a place in your life where you’re going to say, “I’m in a better place now than I was before.” You ever done that? You can look back over your life and say now I know why I went through those things. Sometimes you get in those situations and you say, “Lord, why am I going through this?” We can’t see it like he can. But at the end we can look back and say now I know why I went through these things. It brought prosperity to my life.
Number four: We’ll receive through patience in Christ, purpose. Turn to the book of Psalms 40. A lot of Christians feel like they have no purpose in their life. I’ve talked to Christians and prayed with them and I’ll ask them where they go to church and they’ll tell me all about their church and then they’ll tell me how long it’s been since they’ve gone and you wonder why. Then they say this often times: “I have no purpose there. I don’t feel needed there.” If you’re looking for it through people, you’ll never get it. We have to first realize that we have a purpose in the an Almighty God. If we start fulfilling that purpose of God then everything else will fall into place. He’s got to be number one. Psalms 40:1 David said, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” Now listen to verse 2, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Patience didn’t bring him down. It brought him up. Verse 3 “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” Having patience with God will bring purpose in your life. You won’t be that Christian that’s always on the backslide. You’ll be that Christian that’s always going up. Christ put purpose in your life. Our purpose as a Christian is not to be a good member of Westside Baptist Church, not to be good to our Pastor, our Deacon, our lay members, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Although we should. Our purpose is to be the best Christian we can be every day of our lives. A preacher friend of mine came to me at work the other day and he sat down and he said, “Let’s pray.” It feels good when I spend most of my time praying for other people and someone comes to pray for me. We had prayer. We didn’t hide it. He said, “God, send a word through me to you and here it is: You’re a successful Christian on this journey.” There’s a lot of people who will go to work and hide their Christianity. A lot of people will go out the church doors and hide their Christianity. It blessed my heart to know that God was telling me to just keep on going.
Number Five: We’ll receive through patience in Christ, provisions. Isaiah 64:4 “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eyes seen, O God beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” He’s prepared some wonderful blessings for those that wait for them. He’s a supplying God. He’ll give us beyond measure that which we need. He’s a giving God.
Number Six: We’ll receive through patience in Christ, Promises from God. I want to say right off the bat that God is a God that cannot lie. He will not and cannot break promises. When God tells you he’s going to do something, he will. There’s been many times when I’ve said I’ll do this and I’ll do that and I didn’t. I fell short of the glory of God. I ended up repenting again. But there’s never been a time where God said I’m going to do this for you and didn’t. Hebrews 10:35-36 “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Don’t put your confidence in what people can do. Put your confidence in what God can do. While you’re doing the will of God, have patience because after you do the will of God you might receive the promise. His promises are way beyond measure of what anybody down here can do.
Number seven: We’ll receive through patience in Christ, pureness in our life. Luke 21:19 “In your patience possess ye your souls.” It may not always be good for the body. It may not always be good for the mind. it may not always be good for the heart but if you’ve got patience and you’re trusting in your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ you’ll be able to possess your soul.” Don’t lay up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt. Lay up for yourself treasures in Heaven. You know where you do that? In your soul. Pureness in your soul just by having patience in Him being able to say it don’t matter what’s going on around me. It don’t matter what’s happening to me. I don’t mind the trials and tribulations and the afflictions in this life. What matters to me is what God is doing for my soul. That’s what matters. These old bodies are just a vessel.
Psalms 62:5 “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Don’t expect it through physical things or material things. Expect it from him. He might use a person to do it. He might send it through a flower, a Bible, the Hymnal. If God knows you need it, He will give it.
Have patience and wait upon God. I hope and pray that has helped you tonight. I hope you can go home saying you have some more strength tonight.
