The Patience Of God

Woe unto them: for they have gone in the way of Cain, 

and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, 

and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 

These are spots in your feasts of charity, 

when they feast with you, feeding themselves 

 without fear: clouds they are without water,

 carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, 

without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

 raging waves of the sea, foaming out their 

own shame; wandering stars, to whom is

reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Jude11-13

     The preaching of today for many is only sounds of good things that God will do. The preaching of the word of God in its entirety is absent and replaces with a Dr. Phil type of message: easy to hear making a person to feel good about themselves. Have you read the book of Nahum? These small books seem to be lost in the sea of darkness, left behind and only the bigger books, i.e., Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc., are read or preached. If this is so in your Church, you are missing the complete word of God. Here is Nahum:

"The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, 

and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord 

hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,

 and the clouds are the dust of His feet."

Nahum 1:3

      Yes, God is patient but His patience is not His permission. God rules all things! Charnock stated: 

"The Divine nature is impassible, incapable of any impair,

 it cannot be touched by the violences of men, 

nor the eessential glory of it be diminished by the

injuries of men.....He moderates His provoked 

justice, and forbears to revenge the injuries

 He daily meets with in the world. He suffers

 no grief  by men's wronging Him, but He retrains 

His arm from punishing them according to 

their merits: and thus there is patience..."

     Yes, God is Merciful, all Goodness, the greatest goodness and so to have the greatest goodness and be the greatest goodness He has then the greatest mildness. Mercy would have any way to act if patience did not prepared the way. Where mercy has no room, there is no exercise of patience. It is unfortunate that the Church, not all, but many, think that God is slow to deliver the Church, and even seem to think that it is wrong for Him to bear with all this sin. It is if they have come to believe that God is lethargic, apathetic, careless (Psalm 44:23). Remember, God has as much power to punish as He has also much forbearance to punishment.

     Now read what Ignatius has left for us so that we would have the ability to grow in our faith:

      “I have heard that some strangers came your way with a wicked teaching. But you did not let them sow it among you. You stopped up your ears to prevent admitting what they disseminated. Like stones of God's Temple, ready for a building of God the Father, you are being hoisted up by Jesus Christ, as with a crane (that's the cross!), while the rope you use is the Holy Spirit. Your faith is what lifts you up, while love is the way you ascend to God.”

“You are all taking part in a religious procession, (An abrupt change of metaphor, suggested by the building of a temple. This time the reference is to a heathen procession—perhaps in honor of the Ephesian Artemis. The devotees would be in festive attire and would carry small shrines and amulets of the goddess.) carrying along with you your God, shrine, Christ, and your holy objects, and decked out from tip to toe in the commandments of Jesus Christ. I too am enjoying it all, because I can talk with you in a letter, and congratulate you on changing your old way of life and setting your love on God alone.”

"Keep on praying" (1 Thess. 5:17.) for others too, for there is a chance of their being converted and getting to God. Let them, then, learn from you at least by your actions. Return their bad temper with gentleness; their boasts with humility; their abuse with prayer. In the face of their error, be "steadfast in the faith." (Col. 1:23.) Return their violence with mildness and do not be intent on getting your own back. By our patience let us show we are their brothers, intent on imitating the Lord, seeing which of us can be the more wronged, robbed, and despised. Thus no devil's weed will be found among you; but thoroughly pure and self-controlled, you will remain body and soul united to Jesus Christ."

      "The last days are here. So let us abase ourselves and stand in awe of God's patience, lest it turn out to be our condemnation. Either let us fear the wrath to come or let us value the grace we have: one or the other. Only let our lot be genuine life in Jesus Christ.  Do not let anything catch your eye besides him, for whom I carry around these chains—my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers. May I ever share in these, so that I may be numbered among the Ephesian Christians who, by the might of Jesus Christ, have always been of one mind with the very apostles.  I realize who I am and to whom I am writing. I am a convict; you have been freed. I am in danger; you are safe. You are the route for God's victims. (Ephesus lay on the route by which criminals from the provinces would be brought to Rome to supply victims for the amphitheater.) You have been initiated into the [Christian] mysteries with Paul, a real saint and martyr, who deserves to be congratulated. When I come to meet God may I follow in his footsteps, who in all his letters (An exaggeration of the fact that in several of Paul's letters he refers to Ephesus and Ephesians.) mentions your union with Christ Jesus."

"      Try to gather together more frequently to celebrate God's Eucharist and to praise him. For when you meet with frequency, Satan's powers are overthrown and his destructiveness is undone by the unanimity of your faith. There is nothing better than peace, by which all strife in heaven and earth is done away.”

       “You will not overlook any of this if you have a thorough belief in Jesus Christ and love him. That is the beginning and end of life: faith the beginning and love the end. (Cf. 1 Tim. 1:5.) And when the two are united you have God, and everything else that has to do with real goodness is dependent on them. No one who professes faith falls into sin, nor does one who has learned to love, hate. "The tree is known by its fruit." (Matt. 12:33.) Similarly, those who profess to be Christ's will be recognized by their actions. For what matters is not a momentary act of professing, but being persistently motivated by faith.” 
     ARE YOU BEING MOTIVATED BY FAITH? IS YOUR FAITH BEING MOTIVATED BY AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN FAITH? 

Why, seeing times are not hidden
     from the Almighty, do they
that know Him not see His days?
                 Job 24:1

Faith is necessary to please God

Richard L. Crumb