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Longsuffering and Kindness

Renewing Your Mind / R.C. Sproul
The Truth Network Radio
December 10, 2024 12:01 am

Longsuffering and Kindness

Renewing Your Mind / R.C. Sproul

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December 10, 2024 12:01 am

A mature Christian does not react to humiliation with a spirit of retaliation. Today, R.C. Sproul considers some of the most challenging fruit of the Spirit to cultivate when we find ourselves in trying circumstances.

Get R.C. Sproul’s book Growing in Holiness, plus lifetime digital access to his teaching series Developing Christian Character and the digital study guide, for your donation of any amount:  https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3764/developing-christian-character 

Meet Today’s Teacher:  

R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.  

Meet the Host:

Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children.

Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

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One of the most difficult injuries to bear if we are going to be patient and long-suffering is to bear the pain of slander, to bear the pain of the hostility of the world that is directed against us, not because we have in fact done something wrong, but there are occasions where the Christian is called to suffer for the sake of Christ.

If that's ever happened to you, if you've been slandered, then you know to bear that pain is a tall order. But then we remember what Christ endured during his earthly ministry, especially when he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. And then we remember that he was without sin.

This is the Tuesday edition of Renewing Your Mind, and we're making our way through R.C. Sproul series, Developing Christian Character. Here's Dr. Sproul on long-suffering and kindness. In looking back at the other fruit of the Spirit, I mentioned that the Holy Spirit is not a sourpuss, that He is characterized by cheerfulness and joy. I mentioned also that the Holy Spirit is not quarrelsome or belligerent in His demeanor towards a fallen world. And now I think it is also safe to say that God the Holy Spirit does not have a short fuse. Remember the accent that I want to give again and again is that all of Christian virtue ultimately is based upon the character of God, and that Christian virtue and the fruits of the Spirit are simply nothing more, nothing less than the reproduction in us or the imitation by us of the holy and righteous character of God.

And so we see in the person of God the supreme example of these virtues. God Himself is described as long-suffering, and that's basically what the more abstract concept of patience is about. It has to do with an ability to endure pain over a period of time.

We become impatient when we experience discomfort or pain at things delayed, and we want things to hurry up because we cannot bear the pain of delay. And so that's the link between patience and the idea of long-suffering. Or the Greek comes from the prefix of the word macro, which is large, and the root comes from the word for feelings or passions. Long-suffering means large feelings.

While the accent on long-suffering biblically is on time. And if we go back to 1 Corinthians 13, we see that this is a characteristic of love, that love is patient and kind. Here again we see the link between the exposition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 and the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. This is an expression of love to hold that love over a period of time. This is the kind of stuff that loyalty is made out of. In another lecture series on ethics, I gave great attention to the requirements that God sets before His people as we find in the Old Testament prophet who raises the question, what does God require of you?

Well, what's the answer? To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. What does it mean to love mercy?

It's funny. If you look at the various English translations of that concept, to love mercy, you'll find other renditions of it. Other texts will say to love loyally. And others will just simply use the word steadfast love because it is the Hebrew hased, which is often translated by the word mercy or the word steadfast love. Notice the next time you read the Bible and the next time the Old Testament, how many times when the Bible talks about the love of God, it doesn't just give us the naked word love, but it gives us that adjectival qualifier before it, steadfast, that there is a consistency of God's love. There is a stability to the love of God that is frequently absent in interpersonal relationships among human beings. We know what it means to be hurt and disappointed and let down by the fickle spirit, by the one who loves you and leaves you, by the one whose commitment is for a season, and the season is the season of fair weather. But at the first mistake, at the first sin, at the first point of conflict, the relationship crumbles and dissolves because the love is a love of the moment.

It doesn't hold up over the long haul. God's love is steadfast love. That's what mercy is, and that's what bears mercy.

Let's take, for example, if I have to sit as a judge in the courtroom and I have to judge a perfect stranger whose acts of violence are well documented, and then I have to judge my own son, which of those cases would I be more likely to be disposed towards mercy? See, mercy is born out of a consistent permanent love, at least the disposition to mercy, and I think there's a reason why patience and steadfast love here comes right before kindness, because kindness flows out of patience. Now, the opposite, I think, of the long-suffering patient love that is being expressed here is what I would call a spirit of resentment or a spirit of vengeance, which is not to be characteristic of the Christian personality.

Edwards tells us that patience or long-suffering disposes us to bear the ills that we receive from other people. Our natural reaction to pain inflicted upon us is retaliation, is the desire for vengeance. In fact, we have a saying in our culture when somebody injures us and we get mad, somebody may caution you and counsel you and say, don't get mad, get what? Get even. Don't get mad, get even. That exalts retaliation or revenge as a virtue. Now, we have to walk a very thin line here, indeed the razor's edge, because we could overreact to the concept of vengeance and make vengeance seem as if it were an intrinsic evil. But we may not do that.

Why not? Because God exercises vengeance. Now, there are three words that we run into frequently in the New Testament that are often in our common vocabulary used by people as if they were synonyms and they're not. And I think it's important to have the hairline distinction clear in our minds on these concepts, and they are the concept of justice, the concept of vindication, and the concept of revenge.

Now, these are all very closely related, but they have very small and precise and sharp little distinguishing characteristics about them. Justice has to do with the manifestation of righteousness, and in the law court justice is served when there is a balance, a harmony, an equation between sin and punishment, virtue and reward. Justice is served when the punishment is equal to the crime or when the reward is equal to the merit. That's fundamentally what we mean by justice. Injustice occurs when the punishment is more severe than the crime or when the reward is less than what is called for. That's an injustice or that's unjust. Now, the slight difference there between justice and vindication, because vindication is something that happens in the law court, vindication occurs when someone has been accused of a crime and is shown to be innocent of it.

A person is vindicated when he's exonerated from false charges. Now, one of the most difficult injuries to bear if we are going to be patient and long suffering is to bear the pain of slander, to bear the pain of false accusations, to bear the pain of the hostility of the world that is directed against us, not because we have in fact done something wrong. Sometimes it is because we've done something wrong, but there are occasions where the Christian is called to suffer for the sake of Christ, which is a noble suffering, a suffering for righteousness' sake, for which Jesus Himself pronounces His benediction, Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake, for great is your reward in heaven. And he goes on and says that will happen to the Christian, that the Christian will participate in the humiliation of Jesus. He will participate in the world's antagonism toward Jesus. A natural man's enmity towards Jesus. You will be a target.

How do you handle it? The mature Christian does not react with the spirit of retaliation. Remember the disciples, boy, when they saw Jesus being falsely accused, Peter went for the sword. Jesus said, hold it. I'm going to be patient.

I'm going all the way. And we are called to imitate that to a certain degree. Now when you are falsely accused, is there anything wrong with having a desire to be vindicated?

Not at all. Vindication is something we cry for. Jesus gives us the parable of the unjust judge to teach us about that very point, and He says, and will not, it's a rhetorical question, will not God vindicate His people who cry unto Him day and night? We are encouraged to pray to God that He will vindicate us from false charges when we are falsely accused.

But in the meantime, we are called to a spirit of forbearance and of longsuffering. An extreme example of it is Jonathan Edwards himself. Jonathan Edwards was the preacher whom God used to be the catalyst for the great awakening in New England as he preached there in North Hampton for years, and finally there was a gentleman in town who became very jealous of Edwards and very angry towards Edwards. And this man with a clear case of malice aforethought, invented out of whole cloth, prefabricated lies, and began to spread rumors assassinating the character of Jonathan Edwards in North Hampton.

And at first nobody believed him because Edwards' character was so well known. But as the rumor mill started to pick up momentum, people would sort of, you know, become uncomfortable, wonder if there's any truth here, and they began to ask Edwards about this. Some of his friends came to him and said, what about this, Jonathan? And he said, I'm not going to say anything about it.

And finally the thing rose to fiery proportions so that it was the scandal of the town, and people were screaming for Edwards' head and for his resignation. And his closest friends came to him and said, please, Jonathan, answer the charges. And he refused to do it.

He would not defend himself. And they said to him, why won't you speak up in your own defense? Don't you want to be vindicated? And he said to his friend, I want it desperately.

They said, well, then why don't you speak? He said, because I figure it this way. If I defend myself, then the extent of my vindication will be directly proportionate to the skill of my defense. But if I bear it patiently, then God will move heaven and earth to vindicate me. And I much prefer his vindication to my own.

Now, I don't know how many people think like that, but I don't think I could do that. But Edwards did it. He really believed that.

And he actually went the whole route. He was removed from his pastorate, exiled and banished. And seven or eight years later, the sinner was so overcome with remorse that he called a public meeting in Northampton and publicly confessed his complete guilt in making these charges.

And boy, did that town feel bad. But Edwards was vindicated not in heaven. He was vindicated on earth. Most of us have to wait till we get to heaven.

All right. But that's what it means. Vindication is to be exonerated. Now, revenge is when we try to pay back the wound.

Now, Christianity does not outlaw justice or outlaw law courts or anything like that. But the principle of vengeance is this. Vengeance punishes the evildoer. And God says, vengeance is mine.

Now, often that's all people ever hear. You hear people saying, you're not allowed to be vengeful. You're not allowed to avenge yourself. And that's what he's saying because vengeance belongs to God.

But then the next breath he says what? I will repay. Don't worry about vengeance.

It'll come. Not only will I vindicate you, but I will punish those who have falsely accused you. I'll not just exonerate the innocent. I will punish the guilty. But I will do it.

You don't do it. So God reserves it to Himself and to those earthly institutions to whom He's appointed that responsibility, namely the law courts. Now, why doesn't God give us the right to revenge? My normal sinful tendency is to over-punish, to over-react and over-correct. I think that's the principle reason why God reserves vengeance to Himself. But deeply rooted in each one of us is a capacity for ruthless vengeance. And as the fruit of the Spirit grows, then the capacity for long suffering, for patience, for putting up with the insult and the injury begins to be strengthened within you. And at that point, you're walking in the footsteps of Christ, who was the supreme model of long suffering.

I mean, can you imagine how hard it is? How long do you put up with the buzzing of a fly or an ant walking across your plate at a picnic when you know all you have to do is just take your finger and go, whoosh, and that's the end of the annoyance? You see, it's one thing for me to be long suffering with evil people who are giving me a hard time. I noticed when I was little and I was given to combat and violence, maybe fifty street fights when I was in high school, that most of my fights were with people my own size. My fuse was not quite as short with guys that were six foot five.

I did get in the fight once with a guy six foot five. Once I put the emphasis on once. That taught me a little bit about patience the next time I said. In other words, we tend to be more patient with people over whom we have no power because we can't afford not to have patience.

So in that case, patience is not so much a virtue, is it? But think of Jesus who at any moment could call on legions of angels, and He stood there and listened to the calumnies of these men who were arguing with Him theologically, okay, who was the beginning and end of theology. They're arguing with Him about nature.

He made it. They're threatening Him with punishment, and He has the power of life and death in His hands, and He opened not His mouth. He reminded His disciples that, hey look, nobody takes my life from me, but I lay it down for my sheep.

And He could have called upon those legions of angels. Now that really takes grace to be patient when you have the power to be impatient. Alright, let's look quickly as time is moving ahead to kindness. What a word. What a virtue. Very word kindness.

How does it strike your ear? How do you respond to people who are kind? You know, you're called a lot of things. How do you feel when somebody says about you that you are a kind person? I really would love to be known as a kind person. And kindness again is a manifestation of patience. A kind person doesn't get mad at little things, doesn't have a chip on their shoulder. A kind person is warm and sanguine toward other people. Again, it's born of patience, not of rose-colored glasses, and it's born of the fact that we understand that we ourselves are not only subjects called to exercise kindness, but we have first become the objects of kindness. Think for a moment of the kindness that you have received from your Father and from your Savior. What does David say in Psalm 51 when he's in profound remorse for his sin? And he cries out to God, O Lord, blot out my iniquities. Deal with me not according to Your justice but according to Thy what? Loving kindness. Be kind to me.

That's my only hope. You couldn't stand for a minute in the presence of God were it not for His kindness. And we are called to the same kind of behavior.

Now, quickly, what does kindness look like or what doesn't kindness do? One of the things that really concerns me in Christian growth and not only individually but corporately is the problem of pettiness. The New Testament tells us about love, that love covers a multitude of sins, not that it indulges gross and heinous sin and leaves it unchecked or undisciplined. For that we have to… You see, we sin in both directions all the time, sometimes over-tolerant and sometimes too intolerant. But there is a multitude of sins which love covers. Have you ever been in Christian environments that were picky and were petty? I can't think of anything that paralyzes a Christian work faster than pettiness, picking at really minor sins. Yes, sin is sin.

But even the Bible understands the difference between those gross and heinous sins that are really destructive to the Christian community that ought to be disciplined and the normal daily struggles of the Christian. And pettiness is a sign of immaturity, a sign of fruit that has not yet come to be ripe. Do you feel the tendency or the pull to correct people for every little thing you see them doing wrong?

Kindness overlooks petty errors and does not go out of the way to make people look bad. I have to struggle with that all the time. I have a disease, an incurable disease, particularly in my family. My family has never learned the difference between I and me, when to use the subjective and when to use the objective, the normative and the accusative, the we's and the they. You know, it's they gave the gift to Frank and I, and I go right up the wall when I hear that fracturing of the king's English.

And I do frequently correct their speech. Now maybe that's part of my responsibility as a father, but when I take it outside of the house and I start doing it with other people, and just the other day I caught myself, I was playing golf and somebody said to me, pride goes before the fall. And I said, no, pride goes before destruction.

It's the haughty spirit that goes before the fall. I couldn't wait to correct one of the most misquoted statements in the Bible. And as soon as I said it, I thought, I just was petty. I just asserted my superiority at the expense of making another person look bad, and it was unnecessary. It wasn't the truth of God that was at stake there.

I lack kindness, and the kind person overcomes pettiness and treats other people with a concern for their well-being. That was R.C. Sproul from his series Developing Christian Character on this Tuesday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Nathan W. Bingham and I'm glad you're with us for this week's study. I appreciate Dr. Sproul's willingness to admit that he was wrong in that moment and the humility and kindness that he speaks of was certainly evident during the years I had the privilege of serving with him at Ligonier Ministries.

We all have room to grow, and we all will until we go to glory. So request R.C. Sproul's book Growing in Holiness today when you give a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org, or when you call us at 800 435 4343. Not only will we send you this book, but you'll also have lifetime digital access to the entire 12-message series and the study guide for Developing Christian Character. Use the link in the podcast show notes or visit renewingyourmind.org today. R.C. Sproul will be with us again tomorrow as he considers the character traits of meekness and self-control. That's Wednesday here on Renewing Your Mind. Thank you.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-12-10 03:24:59 / 2024-12-10 03:33:10 / 8

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