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God has put a message on my heart today, and I would like to speak to you on the unsuspected power of spiritual patience. The unsuspected power of spiritual patience. Galatians 5, 22, 23, we read, but the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and patience. I know it hurts, but say out loud, patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control. Jesus reminds us that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the only true measure, the only true evidence of a believer, of a Christian. Jesus said, you will know them by their fruit, not by their foliage, but by their fruit. You know the foliage. He didn't say, you will know them because they go to church, they know church, they know verses, they love singing, they love the worship, they are from a Christian family, their grandma prayed for them, or they're very boisterous online about religious values or no, you will know them by their fruit, by the fruit of the person of the Holy Spirit in them so that when they're surrounded with hatred and anger, there's a fruit of love, supernatural love. And when everything is in sorrow and grief, there's a supernatural joy. And when everything's in turmoil, there's a supernatural peace and a kindness and in a meanness, when choking and when we're drowning in meanness, there's a people on the earth that are standing in kindness and in goodness and faithfulness. And in the world of impatience and anger, they're walking in spiritual patience by their fruit, not their foliage. You will know them. You are living epistles read by all men, the people that surround you, people in your family, people in your place of work, your friends, the people in this city, the people that are in contact with you very often you will be. The only gospel they will read you will be. They will only know the gospel according to you. So what gospel are you presenting them? And God is calling us to rise up in his fruit and in the fruit of patience. I've been praying. I spoke this at our church two weeks ago. I've been praying and carrying this message in my spirit on the fruit of the Spirit, which is patience, and actually the unsuspected power of spiritual patience. Now, I know that patience is one of your favorite subjects, and some of you are saying, okay, but do it quickly. There are many dimensions to the fruit of the spirit, which is patience. There's a human, a social, behavioral, relational, patience with the frustrations of life. We need the fruit of the spirit, of patience with the frustrations of life, the things that can make Us impatient. Impatient with delays and people that are late or unnecessary. Waiting of any kind. And patience with stupidity and laziness and incompetence and vanity and traffic jams. Impatience with the way some people drive. Impatience with, in my case, confession with the Air Canada that keeps delaying and canceling my flights when I'm coming to preach in New York City. So if we were to do our own TSC survey, complete this statement, I have very little patience for. Come on, say it to the person next to you just so you can go ahead and no, don't do it. Some of you be too violent. Don't do that. I will instead ask a confession before God and his holy angels. How many of you will confess? I need more patience. The rest of you, we're praying for you right now. We live in a very impatient society. From the microwave era now to the Amazon generation. This is a generation now that goes. I'm thinking of it, I look for it, I click for it, I get it. And we live. We want it now. This is a generation that has a mentality, a mentality of the. We have a right to the immediate. I want it now. It's everything. The quality of patience can be ridiculed, perceived as useless, almost absurd in some mind. Some mind, some settings almost seen as a sign of weakness. You hear people brag, I can't. I don't wait for anything. It's an instant immediacy society. Instant meals, same day shipping. Ask ChatGPT. A hundred people will watch. People have a on their screen. They'll have access to 100 stations. And they watch series. They watch hundreds of hours of television series that will have 13 seasons of 20 episodes. But they won't. They can't watch it on a network because of those 15 seconds commercial. I don't want to. I can't listen. When I was a young kid in Montreal, this is how old I am. When I was a young kid in Montreal, we had four stations on TV4. Two French, two English. And you had to walk up and turn the dial. This is an impatient society. We are fed and conditioned into an ethos of impatience. But God says, the fruit of my spirit in your life will produce patience. Not only social patience to handle the everyday frustrations of life, but spiritual and supernatural patience to strengthen your faith and protect the favor and testimony of God over your life. When Paul speaks of his ministry and what is necessary for ministry, his whole life service, and in Second Corinthians 6, he'll say, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God. In much patience. Would you say it out loud with me? In much patience. In tribulation, in knees, in distress, in stripes, in imprisonment, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness and fasting. Pastor Tim, that looks like a week of ministry in New York City. Protect the It's a so social cli. In a social climate where the culture of the clique reigns, God calls and offers us a living communion with the person of the Holy Spirit that He may fill us with peace, with a calm, a courageous continuity, a perseverance and resilience, a divine capacity to do battle and to be renewed in our confidence. That's patience. Renewed in our confidence with God. Surrounded by a world that is pressured and stressed and angry and impatient. God wants us to walk in divine, supernatural patience by his spirit and power. He continues in 2nd Corinthians 6 with these words, by purity, by knowledge, and he ties. He ties patience with the power of God. You might have never prayed. Maybe you haven't prayed your whole. You don't remember praying for patience or tying patience with the work of power of the Holy Spirit. When we have images of the power of the Holy Spirit, the very few of us think in terms of patience. But Paul writes in purity and knowledge by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, sincere love, by the word of truth and by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. I want to propose to you that patience, spiritual patience, is infinitely more than a nice to have. Then I should really be more patient that it is that spiritual patience is an essential and irreplaceable offensive and defensive weapon of spiritual warfare. When we read this verse, by the arm of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. In the Greco Roman world of that day, the warrior soldier would fight with the sword on the right hand and the shield on the left. That's why the living Bible actually translates this verse. Using the weapons of righteousness in patience and by patience, by the power of the Holy Spirit with the right hand to attack and the left hand to defend. You might have never thought of this, but spiritual patience is a key offensive weapon. Without spiritual patience you will stop pursuing the promises of God. It is by spiritual patience that you pursue that you attack the enemy, that you are renewed in being relentless in pursuing what God has for you. And please think of this. Spiritual patience is also a defense. It's a weapon. It's a defensive weapon to protect your purity and your purpose and what God has prepared. Without spiritual patience when the trials are coming, you let down your guard. So spiritual patience will allow you to pursue and it will allow you to protect and to pursue and to protect and to possess what, what God has for you. Please risk an amen now. We find variations of the word patience over 70 times in scripture, in the Hebrew and the Greek words most often used for patience. Define patience as the capacity to wait while remaining in faith. To be patient spiritually is a supernatural strength. To continue to believe, to serve, to pray, to worship, to give and to forgive. The patience, to continue giving and forgiving, it is the endurance, the courage and perseverance to continue to hope in spite of what we are facing and enduring by the Spirit of God in us. And it's interesting that this Bible virtue, that this fruit of the Spirit is also celebrated and recognized by many secular minds throughout, through history as an essential quality. Tertullian, the second century theologian, said, patience is the guardian of all virtues. Confucius said, patience is a tree whose root is bitter but whose fruit is very sweet. Now Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb said this, I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Albert Einstein said, it's not that I'm so smart, it's just that that I stay with the problem longer. Aren't you glad that God stays with us longer? He stays with us. So when we look at the unsuspected power of spiritual patience, I want to propose three simple thoughts to you. The definition of our spiritual patience, the development. How does God develop it in us? And why should we rise with a desire and determination for our spiritual patience? The definition of our spiritual patience in the Old Testament. But the words, the different words used for patience are associated with the character of God. He is long suffering, slow to anger patience, long suffering, abounding in mercy and in grace. And also patience is when the men and women of God look to God as a model of patience and his people are their patience is a mark of spiritual maturity tied in with faithfulness through trials as men and women of the Old Testament walking in patience for God, waiting for God's breakthrough and divine outcomes. Spiritual patience is never just waiting on God or waiting for God. Spiritual patience is a hope filled expectation that is based on the faithfulness and the character of God. It's never a sense of, it's never passive. It's an expectation renewed by the Spirit of God and the New Testament. Spiritual patience is rooted in the finished work of Christ and actually in our communion with the Holy Spirit. Patience Becomes a progressive work of being changed into the image of Christ. An identifying proof of the disciples relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit and the Word of God asks me and you the question today. Am I growing in patience? Am I more patient spiritually than I was? If your wife is sitting next to you, I going to ask her special. Patience in the New Testament and in the Old Testament, different Hebrew and Greek words means. It really means waiting with trust, peace and hope. Patience through different spheres and seasons of our lives and aspects of our lives. In Scripture it speaks of patience through trials, patience with circumstances and patience in relationships. Patience with people. So lean over to the person on the other side and say, I need that patience with people. The definition of our spiritual patience is not found in great quotes or dictionaries, but in the very as believers in the very nature of our God. When God reveals and defines himself, God constantly in the word of God. When God introduces himself in the unchangeable attributes of his divine nature, he invariably announces and proclaims his essence of boundless goodness and justice, mercy and patience. Like in Exodus chapter 34 when Moses said, show me your glory. We read, please show me your glory. Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, proclaimed the name of the Lord, and the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord. He's introducing himself, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious and patient and long suffering and abounding in goodness and in truth. Now what's really interesting, do you know the context of Exodus 34, when God, Moses asked for show me your glory in God. God shows himself and he introduces himself by reminding Moses of his long suffering and patience. It's actually that chapter. In that chapter God makes a contrast between his patience and Moses impatience. Because when you look at the context of the previous chapter, chapter 3233 and leading up to 34, where God introduces himself in great long suffering and patience. It is the moment that where Moses comes down from Sinai with the first tablets of the Law. And then when he comes down, he discovers the people worshiping the golden calf. And in anger and in sorrow and in anger and impatience and spiritual impatience and grief, he throws down the tablets and breaks them at the foot on the mountain. We read it in Exodus 32, the last part. So Moses anger became hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them in impatience at the foot of the mountain. And in chapter 33 Moses intercedes for the people. And in 33:13 he says these words, now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way. I want to know the way of God. I want to see you. I want to know, as we sang today, I want to just turn my eyes upon you, just to look upon your face. He said, I want to know your way, the way of God, that I may know you, that I may find grace in your sight. Consider that this nation is your people. And this is the exact. This is what precedes Exodus 34. And in verse one, when the Lord said to Moses, Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were in the first tablets which you broke. I want to. I want to bring this to you today, to bring you. It's such hope to you and me, because each of us it can happen. It happened to Moses that in his anger and his impatience, he broke the tablets of God. And sometimes in our anger and in our impatience, we've broken some tablets of God's will. We've broken some relationships with our spouse, with our husband and wife. Impatience and anger and tablets were. And words were said and fights broke and tension and division came and tablets were thrown down. And God says to Moses, I know you've thrown down in anger, but I am long suffering and full of mercy. I want to speak to someone today. Whatever tables you threw down, and they flew in a thousand pieces, God says, I'm going to bring you new tables. I can still write my laws on your heart. Oh, you should. This is the best news of the day. You should give him praise. Wherever you are in the world, whatever it is, it's in fact descends, descends sometimes. And I, and some. This is for all of us. But to some of us, men and women, the sense of. Because of backgrounds and because of our flesh, the temptation, the tendency to anger and to impatience has caused us at times. This is a battle. The anger was a battle of my life for years and years. It's always something. It's from generations and generations in my family. And sometimes in throwing down tablets where I know that what I've done was not again. Not that impatience again. Not that. That anger again. And you're hurting someone and the enemy can use it to bring you to a place of self guilt and condemnation. Will I ever change? Will I ever be pulled? Did I blow it? Is it over? I want to speak to someone and say it's not over. Because our God. Our God is mercy and grace. He said, I'm going to give you new tablets and write my laws. Again on your heart. All through Scripture, sometimes, in the worst case cases where we would give every, every fiber in us, every instinct in us, says that's it for the, the people of God have done too much. Like in Isaiah, chapter 30, he speaks. God speaks through Isaiah. And he describes the people that were so, so hardened. They were so close to the thing. They were so bitter, they were so hardened, they were so rebellious. He actually describes them this way, chapter 38, 9. Now go write this before, before them on a tablet and note it on a scroll that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. This is a people. This is a rebellious people. God's speaking through Isaiah. Lying children, children will not hear the law of the Lord. And if you read the following verses, he says they multiply sin upon sin. They multiply sin upon sin. They actually say to the true prophets who are trying to warn them of what will happen, you're opening the door to the enemy who's going to take you into captivity. They're saying to the true prop, we don't want to hear you. We're not listening to you. We found ourselves false prophets that tickle our ears. And they're still around, they're still online, they're still all over the world and promising them and feeding them, puffing them up with promises of prosperity and success and height without repentance, without holiness, without sanctification, without integrity. And the Lord comes to a place and it's a moment, it's a solemn moment in verse 12, therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel, because you despise this Word and trust in oppression and perversity, and you're actually relying on them and you're waiting to what's going to come next. And in the next verses, you can read them at home. In Isaiah 30, verse 13 and 17, the next he. And it's important to read it again because God shows what the consequences and they are the same for us today. If you harden your heart against God and His Word, it will be, he says, like the potter's vessel was broken in a thousand pieces of torment. And the peace is gone, and you are torn in every direction. And there's actually a promise that we often quote out of context. It will be in peace and in trust and in rest, and you will find your salvation. But if you read it carefully, it's God speaking. And he says, returning to me, with repentance you will find rest and quietness, and your salvation and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not. These are people who Refuse it. They're so hardened. They're so close. You said no, you would not. Therefore, because you despise all the warning, and you keep turning away from me over again and again, what will be the next? What will God say next? Every fiber and every religion in the world will say, it's over for you. But here's the next verse. In verse 18, therefore the Lord will wait that he may be gracious to you. I will show patience and long suffering. That is the heart of our God. That is the heart of our God. That is incarnate in Christ. That is God. And not only that, but he says, I will wait. I will wait for you. I will wait in patience for you. And blessed are those who will wait for him. He will be very gracious to you. And at the sound of your cry, when he hears it, he will answer you again. I'm speaking to someone. I'm speaking to someone here. Balcony Annex. Somewhere around the world, then the enemy has been saying in your mind, it's over for you. God, because of God, says, I've been waiting for you. I am the God of mercy and goodness and long suffering. Call on me and I'll restore you. Now please understand, the patience of God is not without end or without justice. Each and every human being will have to appear before God. That's why Paul says in Romans, oh, man, do you think you will despise the patience and the goodness of God by hardening your heart? Every human being will face God and will have to answer, did you receive? Did you receive my did you receive my grace? Did you receive my salvation? Did you receive Christ as the offering for your sin? And every believer will have to present ourselves before God. And what did you do with my grace and my patience and my mercy? Did you harden yourself to it? Or did you receive it? Did you allow me? God will say, hey, allow me to change and transform you in the image of My Son? Did you allow my work, the work of my Holy Spirit, to be done in you, that you would be shaped and transformed into in the image of My Son? The patience of God. The definition of our patience is rooted in God's nature of patience, his merciful and continual desire to deploy his patience not only in us, to manifest, to deploy it in us towards us, but through us, to minister to the world. The patience of God. The mercy and patience of God. And we see this throughout Scripture, from Jonah, throughout the prophets, to Peter in the New Testament, all the way, all the way with specific words to the last, to us, to the Last of the last generations. Now Jonah is a case because Jonah, Jonah was called. Was called. God says, you will go to the city of Nineveh. And Jonah says, I don't want to go. I'm not going to Nineveh. And you know what God had to do to get him to go. But Jonah said, I don't want to go to Nineveh. This is a city generation that is so perverse, so anti God, so corrupt in their scheming and in their violence. And they are so arrogant and rejecting you, O God. They reject us. They mock us, your people. I don't want to go. And do you know why Jonah didn't want to go? Because I know you, God. I know you. You're a God of mercy. I know you. I've seen you through. See, See, he knew. This is exactly how he prayed. So he prayed to the Lord and said, ha, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled to Tarsus. For I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant and loving kindness, one who relents from doing arms as I knew it. I know that if these people show repentance, you will forgive them. I want to say. I want to say we need to be filled with that so spirit again, because Jonah was the Pharisee of the Old Testament and there's a large portion of the body of Christ today, online and everywhere, that the only voice that they have for this Nineveh, for this sick world, or for this anti God world, is a warning, is a judgment. We are called to be the represent and to be the voice that says, our God is patient if you repent. He is the God of patience and compassion, long suffering in his love. In Micah, God says, who is God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the realm of his heritage. He does not retain his anger forever because, and these words were written just hit me so hard. Because he delights in mercy. God finds his joy, his delight in mercy. He will again. And you could read it like that, like this. He will again and again and again and again have compassion on us and he will subdue our iniquities. When you read the words, he delights in mercy. This should bring us to our knees as last days Christians. We see so many that seem to be delighting as Christians from in their own lives, online, from in pulpits and all over, not only the United States, but the world, but in our nation at this particular time. So many believers, Christians representative of the God of mercy, compassion and long suffering, that seem to be delighting in anger and division and strife and blame and scoring points and taking sides with endless debate when many seem to be delighting in spewing venom on social media. We are called to be the people of his patience. We are called to be the people of his own Son suffering and of his mercy. And when no one loves, we love. And when everybody judges, we pray, and when everybody condemns, we offer to hope and repentance in the name of Christ. Someone say yes, please. 2nd Peter 3, 8, 9. Know this first. Can you bring this first? Can you return to this first that we know that scoffers will come in the last days. They're all over the world. They're all over the place, all over the Internet. They will come in the last days, walking according to their own lust. But beloved, do not forget this one thing. Know this first, this one thing that with the Lord one day is as of a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. And the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness, but he is patient. He is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This is not a medical equation. When he says one day, a thousand years, it's not a code saying literally that one day equals a thousand years. Peter is echoing an image already present in the Old Testament in Psalm 94. A thousand years in your sight is like a day that has just gone by. If Jesus seems slow in returning, it is not a delay, but it's the manifestation of his divine patience that so many would turn to Him. Christian faith does not should not erode with time. God acts accordingly to his perfect timetable, even if our human clocks grow impatient. And this is the paradox of these last days. We are called in an age of impatience. We are in the midst of scoffers mocking to rise up and to be the expression of the passion of God, of His long suffering. Because in these last days we will live out being the generation that will see more people coming to Jesus Christ than any generation in history. As we express express his long suffering. He's not willing that any should perish. Somebody sent me an article that says it went viral online. It's from the UK Time magazine and it's speaking of an explosion and we see it here and we see it all over the world. Explosion of young people coming to Christ, it's called. The article was a lengthy article. I'm gonna read A portion of it. Full fat faith. The young Christian converts filling our churches. This is in England, London. Few would have predicted a comeback for Christianity, but a backlash against secularism looks less surprising, set against the backdrop of global turmoil and a surge for lost meaning and connection. And here's the article. It is mostly young people filling those pews, not only because they're captivated by the magnificent setting, but because they are seeking something deeper. The Christian faith. And this is not a Christian journalist. He writes. This is. He writes. British society is discovering with surprise of fact, Christianity is coming back. The numbers confirmed. And according to a study by the Bible Society, the religious practice of young adults rose from 4% in 2018 to 16% in 2023. Hallelujah. Christianity is no longer. This is the article they had. Christian Christianity is no longer content to be a relic. It is becoming a visible cultural force. And this is what he says. Secular journalists, the testimonies of young converts just don't speak of philosophy or sociology. They speak of encounters with God, answered prayers, life changing spiritual experiences. This supernatural dimension, long dismissed from public debate, is becoming central again for many journalists. Says this phenomenon is not limited to the uk In Germany and Eastern Europe and Czech Republic, Slovenia, Albania, similar movements are emerging. And he closes with this. Ten years ago it would have seemed ridiculous to imagine a return of Christianity, but today it seems almost inevitable. And as a people of God are filled with his loving kindness and his long suffering and his patience. Can we applaud in advance because God's doing it in New York city and over 50 countries online. Come on, give God praise for the last day revival. He's not willing that any should perish. Hallelujah. But that all, all would come to everlasting life. So how does God? How does God develop our spiritual patience? How does he develop My spiritual patience? Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, those who are called according to his purpose, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Please understand. As followers of Christ, we understand how Jesus teaches that in order for us to bear more fruit and to glorify him, the only way we glorify him is to bear more fruit, the fruit of His Spirit in our life. We must never cease to allow him to cut off, to prune, to sanctify things out of our lives spiritually. The pruning, the developing of the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of patience in our lives is not comfortable. Pruning is not comfortable. But our calling to follow Jesus is never meant to be comfortable. We are not called to be comfortable as Christians. We are called to be conformed. In the first service, I got two Amens. I got three in this one. I can amen myself. This section here, I'm good. And we know that all things work together for good. But not all believers know. They don't understand it fully. How God do not comprehend fully. And they're not grasp how they are called to his divine purpose and his will and his destiny in your life. And God wants to use everything in your life. Everything had happened in the past, in the present, in the future, every trial, every battle, all things. And God's amazing purposes, all things working together for good to transform you. You're looking for your calling, our calling. You were predestined for this. To be predestined, to be conformed, to be changing, to be transformed into the image of Christ. God wants to be at work in your life so he can use all things, everything to work together for good. So you become more and more the reflection, the reflection of the family of God on the earth. He's the first among many brethren, the family of God. Jesus is the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. So the big question is, how does God develop? How does the Lord? If I'm coming to a sense that I never really even prayed for spiritual patience, I never saw it as a spiritual weapon to pursue and to protect, but I'm coming to this sense that God needs to. Yes, Lord, I want you to develop the spiritual patience in my life so I can pursue and possess and protect. So how does the Lord transform us into his image? This is the answer by the development of spiritual patience. It is the development of patience that will change us from being. And I'll explain the term from being a child God to being a child of God. Now, child God, let me explain. Sociologists and psychologists have been using many terms to describe a toxic trend in modern parenting. They call it the spoiled child or the pampered child, the overindulged child, the little tyrant child syndrome. Some call it the dictator in diapers syndrome. But there's a best selling book that is in belgium right now. Dr. Diane Drury wrote a book called the Reign of the Child God who makes the rules. Parents no longer set limits because they would be seen as hindrance to the child development. He says hello and thank you only if he feels like it. Don't look at Anybody just look at me, don't look at, say I'm thinking of somebody's kids right now. No, no, look, here we live in a culture of constant agreement because above all we must not frustrate the tyrant child who is always negotiating, since everything is negotiable with him. She explains this is where, according to her, the child God emerges in growing numbers. This is a child who reigns, who makes the rules. We obey him, we follow his precepts. The child God is above the parents and there's an inversion of responsibilities and authorities. Parents ask their three or four year old children, are you okay with going on vacation? The problem is that she says, the problem is that this creates a child poorly adapted to reality, which means he's arrogant, he's self centered and impulsive, he lacks empathy, he cannot function, he's incapable of reasoning. Parents overprotect their children. Sweeping away every obstacle and sparing them from all difficulty does not help them. They will not know how to live in society or develop their capacity for adaptation. And she closes with this, they also need to learn tolerance, perseverance, resilience, and what only is obtained in life through patience. Well, this process needs to take place in you and in me, and never stop. To this entire generation of Christians that are, that are God, child, that are, think they're ordering God for their purposes. And I want to tell you this, this is not easy to hear, but spiritual patience is not. It will not be developed in an all you can eat gospel buffet of promises of prosperity, abundance, power and success. No, patience is not developed in your season of trophies and triumphs. It is developed in our season of testing through trials. James, chapter one says it this way, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have its perfect work that you may be mature. Perfect here says mature, ready, prepared for what God has for you, that you may be perfect, complete, lacking nothing. How can James say that? How can James count it all joy when you're going through a trial? Why would James possibly say that? Because he understood that it is patience that will transform us, shape us, and it is trial that produces patience. And the trial that produces patience is when and how God transforms us and shapes us and corrects us and strengthens us and grows us and matures us and equips us and prepares us. This is the revelation. Are you ready? They are promises where the only mode of payment accepted is patience. In the kingdom of God, in the kingdom economy, in a kingdom of God. In the developing of the kingdom of God in us and through us, there are some promises. There's no shortcut. You can't just. No, there's no. In God's plan and purposes, there are promises and fulfillments that are only. The only mode of payment accepted is patience. A few years ago, I'm not going to name the country, but I was in an African country. And after. Towards the end of the week, I wanted to buy something for Chantal, for my wife. And she had hinted exactly what she wanted. There was no spontaneity on my part. So I went to this. I went to this open market. She almost. This is. You know, you have the picture and everything. So I'm going to be this big open market, and when I get to it, I mean, just. The negotiation is a trial. The negotiation is a trial. The man, he started over there, and I'm just. No, please. And I said, I don't. I can't do this. Please help. You know. So finally, I just. No, this is you crazy. I'm not buying a car. Forget it. I'm leaving. And I'm. And he saw shock. He's running after me. No, mon ami, mon ami, mon ami. My friend, my friend, we're just beginning. He says, so when we finally get a price, we go, okay, okay, I'll pay this. And the concierge at the hotel had said, no problem. I said, can I use my credit card? I don't want to travel, walk around the market with cash on me. And he says, no, no, no. Oh, yeah, credit card's fine. So I get my credit card, and the guy says, no, no, no. No credit. Canadian cash? No. American cash? No. The only thing he took was cfa, Frank. And I was so frustrated. He's smiling, so this is a good day. So he goes. I was impatient, so he goes. He goes. I said, hey, the guy, the concierge, the hotel told me I could use my credit card. He says, well, if somebody said that to you, somebody fooled you, my friend. He says, quelque tatron pez, mon ami. Somebody fooled you, my friend. So let me say it this way. If someone told you you could fulfill God's plan and purposes in your life without developing patience, someone fooled you, my friend. Quelqueta trompais, mon ami. And if you think that patience can be grown and developed any other way, any other place than trials and deserts, quelque mon ami. Someone fooled you, my friend. But if somebody tells you that patience is growing in trial, and as you walk through that trial, even Now God is developing his purposes in you. You are receiving the truth of God. Hallelujah. James. In that short verses verse, address. In these short verses, he addresses three realities about trials that are so, so real even to us today. He says three things about it reminds us of three realities about trials that develop our patience. He says trials are inevitable. So this is the trials, the battles we have. When we said, I thought I had done everything for this not to happen. I want to tell you there's some things he thought I did everything for this not to happen to me. And yet it's inevitable. Then he says, trials are not only inevitable, they are unpredictable. This is the kind of trials where you say, I never saw this coming. And I was like, I was hit by what this is happening to me. And the third type, the third thing James says is they're unimaginable. This is the trial where you say, I never thought this would happen to me. No, no, no, this is happening to me. I'm treated this way. I never thought this would happen to my family, to my kids. I never thought this would. I heard stories. I never thought it would happen to me. And in those deep, deep moments, James reminds us, reminds us through the trial. God has promises for you. Now let me say it this way. How can I begin to consider that my trial will develop a spiritual patience in me that eventually will become joy and a perfecting work that will complete me so I lack nothing for what he is setting before me. Please hear this in your spirit. God is preparing you for what he has prepared for you. He's preparing you through the trial. So there's an understanding of his promises attached to the development of our spiritual patience that will increase and give a more kingdom minded perspective of our need for patience. Three things right there in the verse. He says, the trial develops patience and patience develops wisdom. If any of you Lack Wisdom, verse five of James 1, let him ask of the Father who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. If you allow God to speak to you and you have an open heart and seek me, O God, during your trial, you will grow in wisdom. We have to hire people all the time. We have 11 campuses. We have over 230 staff of all kinds. And it's become. And people around me know that I'm serious. The first quality, no matter what type of ministry, serious ministry, if it's any type of ministry, the first quality. I look forward to someone. The first question in the interview is, have you suffered? I'm not hiring people that don't suffer. I'm not hiring people that don't suffer. I'm hiring people that have grown in wisdom through the trials. Would you say yes. So patience develops wisdom and patience develops faith. Let him ask in faith with no doubting. He who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven, tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. Trial is the season where God puts iron in your soul and you can grow in faith so you're not always tossed around by everything that happens. I know it's hard, but in your trial you cry out in the increase my faith and something. You go through the water and you go through the fire. You're in Psalm 65, the first six verses. Let me tell you the wonderful things God asked for me. Come on and gather and I will tell you. We went through the waters, we went through the fires. Men came over our head, we almost drowned. But he draw us out. He drew us out for abundance. So you grow in faith, you grow in wisdom and patience develops the courage and spiritual resilience to never stop fighting for what the Bible calls the precious fruit. The precious fruit. James 5:7. Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit. I can't read this without weeping in my spirit. The precious fruit waiting patiently for it until we receive the early and the latter rain. You, you, you, you, you, me, you also be patient. Establish. That means strengthen. Fortify your heart. Establish your hearts in patience and faith for the coming of the Lord is at hand. The growing of patience, the developing of patience is producing in you and in me the courage and spiritual resilience to fight for the precious fruit. After 1 year, 5 year, 10 years, 20 year, 30 year, 40 or 50, still believing God for the precious fruit, of souls of our families coming to God, of our city, being touched, of nations hearing the word of God. Thank God for the spirit of faith in this place. The precious fruit is what we seek for in Jesus name. Would you clap and say, yes, Hallelujah. Fight for the precious fruit. The definition of our spiritual patience. The development I want to close with trying to sow in your heart. Why you must. Why should I have the desire burning in my heart? A determination. I never even prayed for patience. Why should I walk now out of this place with a desire and a determination for God to grow me in spiritual patience? I'm going to give you two fundamental motivations. Because in the first one is I seek and I allow the Work of peace, of patience to be done in me because I understand the process. This is a generation who wants power without process. And in the kingdom of God there's a process. It's not delivery the same day. Click this. I see it, I want it, I claim it. No. Hebrews 6 says this God is not. This is going to bring comfort to you. God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love. Why am I waiting like that? And why is it happening? God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you've shown towards his name and that you've ministered to saints and do minister. Oh, I thought nobody even sees what no God sees. And we desire this is the desire that each one of you would show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope till the end that you're not going to lose anything, not let go, not let go through anything that God has prepared for you to be. And to do that you will not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience, faith and patience inherit the promises. The words are so amazing, they're so magnificent. God's infallible purpose in Christ. For when God made a promise to Abraham because he could swear by no other one greater, he swore by himself, saying surely, blessing, I will bless you. And multiplying, I will multiply you. And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained a promise. The reason why I embrace the work of patience through trials in my life is because I understand God's process. This is what must take place. Patience develops my faith. Faith will obtain the promise God promises. Abraham waits with faith and patience. God blesses, Abraham receives and he is multiplied beyond anything he could have imagined. That's what God has for you. Now you ask, do we really, really have to go through why do we have to go through a process that is often painful and patience of faith and through trial that produce. And so in order that I would possess the promise. Now look all over Scriptures. Look at Joseph. Look at Joseph from the beginning, from the dream, the 14 years, 15 years from the dream to the fulfillment, everything he went through every there's a process. He had the dream, he has the vision, but there's a process. And this psalm gives us an amazing insight into his soul. While we're reading the chapter, the psalm says the word of God was testing Joseph and he was producing iron in his soul. As he's going through it, as he's being thrown in the ditch by his brothers, as he's being accused unjustly I've done nothing to be here. And when he's serving others and they forget that he thinks he's forgotten. And God said, no, I'm in the process. I'm in a process. You look at David from the day that the anointing came over his face. He shall be the next king. And the slaying of the giant, the 14, 15 years before he's to the throne. There's a process. Say the word with me. Process. There's a process. Look at Noah and his five decades. I'll say this. I've been serving the Lord for 46 years. And there are battles and things that, that I'm praying for and believing for that I have for years and decades. God has put something in you. There's a purpose in you that only you can fulfill. But it will be only developed through the process of patience. There's a picture that's going to appear on the screen of a hockey player. He plays in the NHL. He's an amazing scorer. His name is Anthony Manta. I played hockey with Anthony Manta. I'll tell you why I played hockey with Anthony Manta, because Anthony was playing hockey with my son. My son played high level hockey. They played together, but they went all through their young years, 10, 11 years old. And one time they did a father and son game. And the dads, we all went on the ice and the dads were way, way too intense. This was a bit embarrassing. The dads were. They just thought this was Stanley cup stuff. And the kids are 10 years old, like, calm, cool down, dad. And it's very exciting to us. So I'm sitting on the bench between shift, I'm out of breath, and there's this little blonde kid, curly hair. He's like, he's 10. So he comes next to me and I noticed he was so good. And I said, hey, I said, you're really good. What's your name? He looked at me, 10 years old, I'm a dad. He looks at me like he doesn't know my name. He says, I'm Anthony Manta. I'm innocent. I go, oh, hi, Anthony Manta. You're really good. You're playing. You're a really good player. He's looking at me like, and he goes to play after the game, I take my son home and I say, hey, Sammy, I just met one of your friends, one of your guy on your team, Anthony Manta. I asked him his name. He told me, dad, dad, what did you do? You don't ask Anthony Manta his name. Everybody knows his name. He was already Antonimanta. But he played his first game in the NHL 15 years later. He had everything there. But he couldn't go to the NHL next week. Today he is 6' 4, 220 and he's in the NHL. I wanted you to know there's a purpose in you. There are things that God has put in you that only you can fulfill. But you must allow the process of God through patience. Oh, come on, give him look to Jesus. Look, look. I'm coming. I'm going to ask the musicians to come look to Jesus. In Luke 2:52, Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with men. Here's a question. When Jesus was born, was he any less God than when he was announced in Matthew 3? He was God in the flesh. As a baby, as a 4 year old, as a 12 year old in the temple, during his Father's dream will. But Jesus is our example. He understood and modeled the process of patience. He was prepared. Maybe you never thought of this. He was prepared for 30 years for a public ministry of three years and a fulfillment of three hours on the cross and a resurrection three days later. Hallelujah. This process must never end. It's just. This is why I'm asking, oh God, renew in us that desire, this desire, his determination to allow the work of patience to be done in my life. Because I understand the process and I want to close with this because I trust. I trust I have full confidence in God's purposes and even his protection while I wait and while you're waiting, there's a process, there's a purification, there's a protection of God. The psalmist said, commit Psalm 37. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Don't fret. There's a lot happening in our world even in these weeks. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Psalm 62. My soul will wait patiently, and sometimes silently, because I can't even express it for God. From him comes my salvation. And he alone is my rock and my defense. We live in a day, a dark day, as David did in Psalm 37, when evil men bring schemes, evil schemes to pass all around us every day. But patience by the Holy Spirit is an offensive weapon to continue to pursue the calling of God, to express God's heart to this world. And it is a defensive weapon. So to protect the promises of God, the processes of God in my life. Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of England, said this. I can be extraordinarily patient as long as I get what I wanted in the end. Many of us feel that way. What do you do when you come into a place where. Why does God allow seasons in my life and in yours of waiting and delays and sometimes very legitimate things? Oh, God, this is your will and I know it. Why? What is God allowing these seasons where he develops patience in our hearts and after all these years of walking with the Lord, I don't have. I'm not going to answer all your questions, but I'm going to share this and it might build your faith. Sometimes it is to teach us to persevere in his word and in prayer, to establish our Be patient and establish and fortify your heart. Sometimes it is to purify us and to deepen us. In seasons of trials, we often are moments where we push the other stuff aside and we say, search me, O God. And if you allow him, he will show you things that need to be cut off, that need to be pruned, and he will purify and deepen you for what is coming. Sometimes it is for you to be. Why were you going through your trial? Some of you. Sometimes it is for you to become an example, a proof of his faithfulness to someone who's watching you through your trial. Someone is watching you. Family members, friends, people are watching you in your trial and how you walk and how you stand and how you are. I want you to know that somebody, somebody's finding faith by watching you go through your trial and trusting God. I saw my mom do this. I saw my dad. I saw him. I saw her. Sometimes it is to protect us, and this is hard for us to understand, but sometimes when there seem to be no answer, sometimes it is to protect us. There's some things that at that time I thought it was so legitimate, it was so right. This was the right thing, this was the right ministry, this was the right building, this was the right project. This was the right thing. And why not God? Sometimes the waiting is simply God protecting you. And of all of God's blessings, of all of God's blessings, the protection of God is the one that we have the the most time is the hardest to understand while he's doing it. But God, sometimes protecting and then as you're trusting in patience, and sometimes it is to change your perspective on the suffering and trials of others and to make your heart less judgmental and More like his. And sometimes it is to strip us of service. That is depending on my success and my agenda and my steps and my plans and my timetables and my recognition. And to bring us to a place where we are serving simply by the communion of the communion of the Holy Spirit in patience, to love and to honor Him. That's why he says in Romans 12, not lagging in zeal, but be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. I want to close by telling you this. Sometimes. Sometimes you are going through the trial and it's working on your patience, because God is getting ready. God is deepening you for a higher place. He's deepening. Listen, every man of God that entered into a season of higher impact, higher kingdom impact, higher, pushing back the gates of hell. There's a land between. There's a season before it with a purging. And with that everything is shaking and motives, and everything is. I'm speaking to somebody. God is preparing you for not a higher place, necessarily in the eyes of men, but higher kingdom, responsibility, higher impact, higher precious fruit. Let him do his part. Perfect work. That you would be mature and perfect, lacking in nothing for the next season of your life. Say yes, please. So I would say this way. It is when we know that the testing of our faith produces patience and that we allow patience to have its perfect work that we can stand in faith in the season from 40 to 41. I'm not talking about age, but the number 40 has great significance in the Bible. It rained 40 days and 40 nights. But came the 41st day and the rain stopped. Moses committed murder and hid in the desert for 40 years. But then, in the 41st year, God called him and delivered Israel. Moses went up to the mountain for 40 days. But on the 41st day, he received the Ten Commandments. The people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years. But in the 41st year, they entered the Promised Land. Goliath challenged Israel for 40 days. But on the 41st day, David struck him down. Jonah preached repentance to Nineveh for 40 days. But on the 41st day, the people turned to God in repentance. Jesus fasted and was tempted for 40 days. But on the 41st day, the devil retreated and Jesus began his ministry by declaring, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to heal the brokenhearted, set captives free and announcing, acceptable year of the Lord. Hallelujah. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples for 40 days. But on the 41st day, he ascended to heaven. The Holy Spirit was poured out and the Christian church was born. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church until he comes. So what does this mean to me? The rain will. What does this mean for you? The rain will eventually stop. God will bring you out of your desert. God will give you his commandments for your life. The giant will fall. The one who seems untouchable can return to God. The one who was dead came back to life. You will enter your promised land through patience for your day. 41 In Jesus name and all of God's people say one last amen and amen. Would you stand and would you give him praise? I would like you know, this is. This is united. This is the United Nation Week. So there's all over, all around the building, all over the streets. There's people from all over the world. I would like from Manhattan and New York to hear a shout of praise from the house of God here. Would you give God an ovation and a shout of praise that even everyone online. Let this city. Let this city know. Let this city know. He's the Lord over the nations. He's the Lord over the nations. Come on, give him a minute. Give him 60 seconds of praise. Hallelujah. He's the Lord over the nation. We will wait patiently. His mercy. He is long suffering and mercy. So this is what I had in my spirit today, that we would all lift our hands together. And if you notice, even many of the songs that were chosen in our worship, it's one heart. The Holy Spirit had one message for you today. So can we respond by lifting our hands all over this building and online? Many of you just say, lord, Lord, I drifted away, but you are so patient and kind, so full of mercy. So I come back to you. I'm not spurning your mercy and your grace. I come back to you, but I come back to you wholeheartedly. No more of halfway. I'm coming back entirely. I'm surrendering it all to you. Lift your hands, lift your online. This is for you. He's long suffering and gracious and he says, I was waiting for you. I was waiting for you. Come so you will cry to me and I will heal. Lord, I need to be filled with your spirit again. I need the power of your spirit to be patient and for patience to have its perfect way in me. Maybe you have prayed this before or not, but can I ask you for a few minutes just to lift your voices? This place becoming a place of prayer and say, lord, I hear it today. I receive it today Lord, Fill me with patience, oh God, the fruit of the spirit. I want to pick up my weapons, oh God, patience to pursue again Pursue again your purposes to protect in a season where everything is shaken Lord, I have been, I've been I have broken some some tablets of youf will by impatience and by anger. I drifted out of youf will by action and words and attitudes and in decisions. I've broken tablets at the foot of the mountain. But God, you say I'm writing new tablets on your heart oh God, you, God of mercy, we're presenting I'm giving youg broken tablets of my life. Come and write your your laws on my heart again Lord, even when I don't understand what I why I'm waiting why I don't understand why you what you are doing. I will wait patiently and trust in youn. I will wait patiently and trust in youn, Lord. I understand your process, your process. I trust in youn plan and purposes and even in your protection that in some of the things that are not happening that I so wanted, there's your divine sovereign protection. So today I want to simply say I love you Lord, for your mercy never fails me. Thanks so much for listening. We hope you've enjoyed this message and be sure to subscribe so you can receive new messages each week. Visit TSC NYC for all the latest info on how you can stay connected. Also, don't forget that you can follow us on social media on all major platforms at Times Square Church. Thanks for tuning in today. Have a great week.