PATIENCE

Our Lord has many weak children in his family, many dull pupils in his school, many raw soldiers in his army, many lame sheep in his flock. Yet he bears with them all, and casts none away. Happy is that Christian who has learned to do likewise with his brethren.

J.C. Ryle

Curtis C. Thomas, Practical Wisdom for Pastors, Crossway Books, 2001, p. 207.

There is nothing which shows our ignorance so much as our impatience under trouble. We forget that every cross is a message from God, and intended to do us good in the end. Trials are intended to make us think – to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees. Health is a good thing; but sickness is far better, if it leads us to God. Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one, if it brings us to Christ. Anything, anything is better than living in carelessness, and dying in sin.

J.C. Ryle
Commentary, Matthew 15.

Mercy hath a heaven, and justice a hell, to display itself to eternity, but long-suffering hath only a short-lived earth.

Henry Smith

A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 206.

Our Physician makes these outward blisters in our bodies, to draw out the poisonous corruption that is in our souls: and therefore let us endure what He imposes with patience, and never murmur against Him for effecting His cure; knowing that it is but childish folly to abhor the medicine more than the disease.

George Downame

A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 205.

There are no sins God’s people are more subject to than unbelief and impatience. They are ready either to faint through unbelief, or to fret through impatience.

Thomas Watson

A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 275.

Patience has various objects. Towards God it is resigned, and says, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord.” Towards Christian people, who justly reprove us, it is meek, and says, “Let the righteous smite me!” Towards wicked and unreasonable people, who love to see others afflicted, it says, “Rejoice not against me, O my enemy.” Towards the trials under which we are called to suffer, it is not uneasy and rebellious, but rather gives them a kind reception.

William Plumer

Another reason [patience] is so hard to come by is that we often don’t like the way it comes. Romans 5:3 says, “Suffering produces endurance,” and James 1:3 says, “The testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” In both cases the product is patient endurance – the ability to remain under tremendous weight and pressure without succumbing. That which produces this is the difficult part: suffering, testing, trials. We would prefer an easier I way for the fruit to be produced, but this is God’s way!

Robert Carver

Wrath and Patience, Tabletalk, May 2008, p. 19, Used by Permission.

The fruit of patience in all its aspects – long-suffering, forbearance, endurance, and perseverance – is a fruit that is most intimately associated with our devotion to God. All character traits of godliness grow out of and have their foundation in our devotion to God, but the fruit of patience must grow out of that relationship in a particular way.

Jerry Bridges

The cure for impatience with the fulfillment of God’s timetable is to believe His promises, obey His will, and leave the results to Him. So often when God’s timetable stretches into years we become discouraged and…want to give up or try to work something out on [our] own.

Jerry Bridges

Every day God patiently bears with us, and every day we are tempted to become impatient with our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. And our faults and failures before God are so much more serious than the petty actions of others that tend to irritate us! God calls us to graciously bear with the weaknesses of others, tolerating them and forgiving them even as He has forgiven us.

Jerry Bridges

Patience does not ignore the provocations of others; it simply seeks to respond to them in a godly manner. It enables us to control our tempers when we are provoked and to seek to deal with the person and his provocation in a way that tends to heal relationships rather than aggravate problems. It seeks the ultimate good of the other individual, rather than the immediate satisfaction of our own aroused emotions.

Jerry Bridges

Patience is the ability to suffer a long time under the mistreatment of others without growing resentful or bitter.

Jerry Bridges

Nothing is ever wasted in the kingdom of God. Not one tear, not all our pain, not the unanswered question or the seemingly unanswered prayers. Nothing will be wasted if we give our lives to God. And if we are willing to be patient until the grace of God is made manifest, whether it takes nine years or ninety, it will be worth the wait.

Author Unknown

Patience is waiting for God to solve problems that we cannot.

Author Unknown

Unfortunately, many people think that patience is most predominately demonstrated by someone who has an easy going, laid-back attitude. But, on the contrary, patience is not some passive nuance of someone’s character; it is an active, exhibited virtue. It is a virtue of trust. To exercise trust implies that we are trusting in someone greater than ourselves. It is no wonder the world is so impatient. Those who do not know God can only trust in themselves, for there is no one greater in whom they can place their trust. Their confidence is self-confidence, their esteem is self-esteem, and their reliance is self-reliance… If we trust in ourselves, then we are a hopeless people. But we are the people of God who place our trust in the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things. Indeed, we do not know patience apart from Him; we are patient precisely because He is patient toward us, enduring with us to the very end. Therefore, we live coram Deo, for in Him we live, move, and have our being, and in Him our patience is perfected.

Burk Parsons

Tabletalk, p. 2, v. 28, n. 9, Ligonier Ministries, Used by Permission.

The faith of Christ offers no buttons to push for quick service. The new order must wait the Lord’s own time, and that is too much for the man in a hurry. He just gives up and becomes interested in something else.

A.W. Tozer

Christ was despised on earth by men, and in his greatest need, amid insults, was abandoned by those who knew him and by friends; and you dare to complain of anyone? Christ had his adversaries and slanderers; and you wish to have everyone as friends and benefactors? Whence will your patience win its crown if it has encountered nothing of adversity?

Thomas a Kempis

The Imitation of Christ.

Do not say: “I cannot bear this from such a man, nor should I suffer things of this kind, for he has done me a great wrong. He has accused me of many things of which I never thought. However, from someone else I will gladly suffer as much as I think I should.” Such a thought is foolish, for it does not consider the virtue of patience or the One who will reward it, but rather weighs the person and the offense committed. The man who will suffer only as much as seems good to him, who will accept suffering only from those from whom he is pleased to accept it, is not truly patient.

Thomas a Kempis

Patience is the queen of virtues.

John Chrysostom

To demand from others what the Spirit Himself patiently endures is to exalt ourselves above God.

R.C. Sproul

When the Bible speaks of patience…it speaks of it as a virtue that goes far beyond the mere ability to await some future gain. It involves more than the rest or peace of the soul that trusts in God’s perfect timing. The patience that is in view here focuses more on interpersonal relationships with other people. It is the patience of longsuffering and of forbearing in the midst of personal injury. This is the most difficult patience of all.

R.C. Sproul

Tabletalk, p. 6, v. 28, n. 9, Ligonier Ministries, Used by Permission.

Longsuffering, forbearing patience is to be the Christian’s reflection of the character of God. It is part of God’s character to be slow to anger and quick to be merciful. Part of the incomprehensibility of God in terms of my own relationship with Him is this: I cannot fathom how a holy God has been able to put up with me marring His creation to the degree I have for three score and five years. For me to live another day requires a continuation of God’s gracious patience with my sin… It becomes even more difficult to fathom when we see a sinless Being being more patient with sinful beings that sinful beings are with each other.

R.C. Sproul

Tabletalk, p. 7, v. 28, n. 9, Ligonier Ministries, Used by Permission.

Patience is a vibrant and virile Christian virtue, which is deeply rooted in the Christian’s absolute confidence in the sovereignty of God and in God’s promise to bring all things to completion in a way that most fully demonstrates His glory.

R. Albert Mohler

Tabletalk, p. 17, v. 28, no. 9, Ligonier Ministries, Used by Permission

We must understand that patience is both a command and a gift from God… As a command, patience arrives at the Christian conscience as a matter of accountability. At the same time, patience is a divine gift. Christians are not able, in and of themselves, to demonstrate true patience as a fruit of the Spirit… [Patience] comes only to those who have been redeemed by Christ and in whom the Holy Spirit is calling forth the fruit of the Spirit.

R. Albert Mohler

Tabletalk, p. 17-18, vol. 28, n. 9, Ligonier Ministries, Used by Permission.

The Christian virtue of patience is rooted in our knowledge of ourselves as redeemed sinners. Knowing our own frailty, and all too aware of our own faults, we must deal with other Christians out of humility rather than pride. The Christian has no excuse for responding to fellow believers in a spirit of arrogance, haughtiness, or superiority.

R. Albert Mohler

Tabletalk, p. 18, v. 28, n. 9, Ligonier Ministries, Used by Permission.

[Patience is] a grace as difficult as it is necessary, and as hard to come by as it is precious when it is gained.

C.H. Spurgeon

The word [patience] never means the spirit which sits with folded hands and simply bears things. It is victorious endurance (and) constancy under trial. It is Christian steadfastness, the brave and courageous acceptance of everything life can do to us, and the transmuting of even the worst into another step on the upward way. It is the courageous and triumphant ability to bear things, which enables a man to pass breaking point and not to break, and always to greet the unseen with a cheer.

William Barclay

Letters of Peter and Jude, St. Andrews, 1960, p. 258.

In regard of God, patience is a submission to His sovereignty. To endure a trial, simply because we cannot avoid or resist it, is not Christian patience. But to humbly submit because it is the will of God to inflict the trial, to be silent because the sovereignty of God orders it – is true godly patience.

Stephen Charnock

Interruptions [can become] divine appointments.

Robert Lewis

Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now.

A.B. Simpson

God Himself is the supreme example of longsuffering. When we are tempted to be impatient with others, we should stop and think about the gracious longsuffering of God with us and our many wrongs against Him. In light of His patience toward us, who are we to think that we cannot patiently bear with the weaknesses and failures of others – or the wrongs they may have done to us?

Alexander Strauch

Leading With Love, Lewis and Roth, 2006, p.41, Used by Permission.

A Christian without patience is like a soldier without arms.

Thomas Watson

Quoted by Curtis C. Thomas, Practical Wisdom for Pastors, Crossway Books, 2001, p. 115