INTRODUCTION

1. Patience is not only a virtue, but it is also part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) that the world often lacks.

2. Unlike the world, the Lord Jesus has patience in abundance and beyond measure.  Let us consider His perfect patience and how important it is to us.

    

PAUL: A DEMONSTRATION OF CHRIST'S PERFECT PATIENCE

1. Christ patiently endured the persecution of Saul of Tarsus.

   1. Saul was a "chosen instrument" of Christ for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15-16).

      1. He was uniquely qualified as a zealous "Hebrew of Hebrews" (Phil. 3:4-6) and a student of the Law under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) and yet also a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-29) from a significant Gentile city (Acts 21:39).

      2. He also had the unique quality of never having violated his conscience (Acts 23:1; 24:16). This did not mean that he was sinless, but he never intentionally did anything that he thought was wrong.

      3. Christ set apart Saul from his mother's womb for the work of preaching the gospel (Gal. 1:15), but first He patiently endured Saul's persecution.

   2. Before Saul became useful to Christ, he was the leader of the persecution of the Lord's church.

      1. After witnessing and agreeing to the murder of Stephen, Saul began "ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison" (Acts 7:58-8:3).  This persecution occurred against the church at Jerusalem.

      2. When the Christians in Jerusalem were scattered, Saul received a special commission for persecuting Christians in Damascus.  Notice Acts 9:1-2:

         ¹Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ²and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

      3. Consider Saul's own description of his actions:

         1. Acts 22:4-5 -- ⁴"I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, ⁵as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify.  From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished."

         2. Acts 26:9-11 -- ⁹"So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  ¹⁰And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them.  ¹¹And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities."

         3. Galatians 1:13 -- For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.

   3. Saul's persecution of the church was personal to Christ.

      1. When Jesus called upon Saul, He said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9:4). Saul knew He was persecuting the church, but he didn't know he was persecuting the Son of God, for he did not believe in Jesus.

      2. The church is Christ's body (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18), and any blows inflicted on the body are suffered by Christ personally.  Saul did indeed persecute Jesus.

2. Christ's patience with Paul proves His perfect patience toward all sinners.

   1. The present purpose of reviewing Saul's persecution of the church is to appreciate the perfect patience of Christ.  If Christ patiently endured Saul's persecution of His church, then He will also endure any other sinner.

   2. Consider Paul's explanation of this in 1Timothy 1:12-16

      ¹²I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, ¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor.  Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.  ¹⁵It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. ¹⁶Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

       

CHRIST'S PERFECT PATIENCE WITH THE WORLD

1. Christ patiently delays His coming for the sake of sinners.

   1. Jesus has promised to come again for the resurrection and the Judgment (John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 1Thess. 4:13-18).  This promise gives us hope.

   2. However, we do not know when He will come (Matt. 24:36-44; 1Thess. 5:1-3), and His coming has been delayed for nearly 2,000 years so far.

   3. Why does He wait?  Certainly, the world constantly provokes Him with sinful rebellion, abominations, and atrocities that become worse and worse.

   4. Christ's delay in coming is explained in 2Peter 3:8-9, 14-15:

      ⁸But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  ⁹The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance...¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, ¹⁵and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.

      1. Christ's delay is proof of His perfect patience, for it gives an opportunity to sinners for repentance and salvation.  Let us thank God that He was patient enough and waited long enough for our repentance and salvation.

      2. Notice that verse 8 applies not only to Christ's eternal nature but also His perfect patience. He can wait for one thousand years as easily as He can wait for one day.

      3. Peter acknowledged that Paul had written about the Lord's patience as well just as we have seen in 1Timothy 1:12-16. Certainly, Paul was an expert on Christ's patience.

2. Christ's patience extends to each individual.

   1. Notice again that Paul wrote,  "¹⁶Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life" (1Tim. 1:16).

      1. Christ's patience with Paul stands as an example for every individual "who would believe in Him." This is the very reason that Christ chose Paul.

      2. Because Christ was patient with Paul, we know that there is no sinner who exceeds His patience. He patiently waits for every sinner to come to repentance.

   2. The same Lord who endured mocking, spitting, beating, scourging, and the cross is the Lord who now patiently endures each individual's sin.

      1. Peter holds up Christ as the model of patient endurance, saying in 1Peter 2:23-24:

         ²³And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

      2. Because Christ patiently endured all the trials of the cross for the sake of each sinner without calling "twelve legions of angels" (Matt. 26:53), we know that He will patiently endure until each sinner comes to repentance.

      3. Christ is patient even with His own children when they sin. His blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness as we confess our sins to Him (1John 1:7-9).

          

CONCLUSION

1. With our imperfect patience, we sometimes wonder why the Lord allows the world to go on as it is. How long will He refrain from judging the world (Rev. 6:9-10)?

2. However, Christ's perfect patience is the world's opportunity for salvation.  He would be right to destroy the world now, but He patiently waits for sinners to repent.  Praise the Lord for His perfect patience!