AM Sermon Outline: 02/12/2023
Examine yourself through the patience of God? Genesis 6:5
Bro Avery Hines
Is God patient?
Patient from a recent study of James 5:7 is described by Thayer as
to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart
to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles
to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others
to be mild and slow in avenging
to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish
So, is God patient?
The interesting thing about patience is that endurance is a synonym of patience. This, in my study, only signifies more that God is patient, because He is willing to endure…
persevere patiently (in other words God is patient about being patient)
patient in bearing offenses
mild and slow in avenging
longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish
So, God is a patient God, and His patience endures.
So, this morning I am going to attempt to show you God’s patience and endurance in hopes as you examine yourself you’ll find the same in you.
Come with me to Genesis chapter 1:31…
Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
So, the earth had been around for a mere six days, and I won’t get into how long a day was, what I will say is to God the earth was 6 days old. The earth was a mere 6 days old when in chapter 2 of Genesis starting at verse 15…
Gen 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Gen 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Gen 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now, come with me to Genesis chapter 3, starting at verse 1,
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Remember, well, let me remind or inform you. God, only after the first thing that anyone, or thing, had done wrong, punished all.
And yet, I stand before you today with the full assurance that God is patient and that He endures. Chapter 5 of Genesis shows a patient God as it goes through the line of Adam.
- Adam, 130 years, fathered Seth
- Seth, 105 years, fathered Enosh
- Enosh, 90 years, fathered Kenan
- Kenan, 70 years, fathered Mahalalel
- Mahalalel, 65 years, fathered Jared
- Jared, 162 years, fathered Enoch
Enoch, 65 years, fathered Methuselah, but in this case the scriptures point out that Enoch walked faithfully with God for 300 years, and every version of the bible from the website biblehub.com but one says “then he was no more, because God took him; that one stating Enoch was translated
- Methuselah, 187 years, fathered Lamech
- Lamech, 182 years, fathered Noah
See, according to the chart on patriarchal timeline Noah was born about 1500 years after Adam was created.
Genesis chapter 6 starts off by letting us know that When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
The word we are looking at is “strive” in the KJV as well as the NASB; the Easy-Read focuses on “troubled”. The word you’re thinking here is “dûn”, which among other things means strife (angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues). So, if you look at, say, the Easy-Read, verse 3 will look something like, “Then the LORD said, "People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years." God, who is Spirit, knew our fleshly selves would always be at war with His Spirit. Notice God did not remove his spirit from man, only shortened the time span in which the two would pull us back and forth; which unfortunately is our life time. If you read the rest that verse you will see our flesh and His spirit will do battle for no more than 120 years.
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
By the time God decided to shorten the life of man it had been around 1500 years or more since the first sin was committed. God had been patient for 1500 years.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. If we recall, from Adam to Lamech, each man had sons and daughters; only one, Enoch was mentioned to be a holy man, and God took him.
See, God had become impatient, but not with mankind, God had become impatient with wickedness, but certainly understood that the spirit He put into man and the flesh he made man from would do battle and the only way to get rid of wickedness was to get of man.
Again, God was patient for 1500 years from Adam to Noah, then patient another 1500 years from Noah to Christ, and another 2000 years from Christ to us, and I can say that with the full knowledge because I am here to make that statement. From whenever I learned to cheat, lie, steal, covet, until this very day He is still being patient with me, and will continue to do so until He decides otherwise. It is the same with each and every one of you, for as long as you have lived, and for as long as you will continue to live.
I believe God is patient, I believe He is patient because He loves us.
Joh 3:16 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.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Eph 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Brothers and Sisters, anyone listening not in the body, we are in the dispensation of the New Covenant; it is a conditional covenant! It is an agreement between two or more parties (us and God) that requires certain terms be met. I am confident the greater majority who may see this all want to go to heaven. I have the same confidence the same wish to do so without meeting any of the conditions that apply. If they would take a thorough examination of the scriptures they could plainly see that it is not those of us who are preaching to them that are the problem, but you simply cannot have one without the other.
Meanwhile, I feel that many not in the body might see me as a cast their stuck with that goes from thigh to toe, and they have developed an itch. Though that itch is causing them undo aggravation they might consider the cast is there to protect an injury, and as such patience is needed until they figure out a way to scratch it without causing themselves further harm.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
We know the rest; Noah built an ark, God loaded the ark, 8 people boarded the ark.
So, we need to examine ourselves with the patience of God, but the unbeliever needs to examine themselves with this same patience.
Peter gave it us, and now I’m loaning it to them…
2Pe 3:1-2 My dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to encourage you to do some honest thinking. I don't want you to forget what God's prophets said would happen. You must never forget what the holy prophets taught in the past. And you must remember what the apostles told you our Lord and Savior has commanded us to do. 2Pe 3:3-4 But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you and say, "Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit."
2Pe 3:5 They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God's command. The earth came out of water and was made from water.
2Pe 3:6 Later it was destroyed by the waters of a mighty flood. 2Pe 3:7 But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment. Then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed. 2Pe 3:8 Dear friends, don't forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years is the same as one day (CEV).
I need you to pray, think it over, and come to Christ.
You need to pray, think it over, and come to Christ.
Hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized