In this episode of The Flatline, Rick Hughes explores the concept of patience as an integral aspect of divine love. Through scriptural references and practical illustrations, learn how patience can strengthen your faith, mature your spiritual journey, and enhance your ability to love others. Rick emphasizes the importance of love as a reflection of God’s presence within us, urging listeners to embrace patience, humility, and the virtues necessary to represent divine love to the world.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now your host, Rick Hughes.
SPEAKER 02 :
Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes. For the next few minutes, you have an invitation to stick around. It’ll be about 30 minutes of motivation, A whole lot of inspiration and education, but absolutely no manipulation. No con games, no asking for money, no soliciting support, not trying to sell you anything. Just give you information. Information that may, in fact, help you verify as well as identify the plan of God for your life. And if you’re able to do that, then you have the freedom and the privacy to orient and adjust to the plan. but my job is to communicate the truth to you and your job is to act upon what you hear. If you so desire the flat line, F L O T, not flat line. Some people write and say, I thought it was the flat line. No, it’s the flat line that stands for forward line of troops. We’re using a military analogy here, talking about you establishing a forward line of troops or a main line of resistance in your soul made up of 10 unique problem solving devices. The reason we talk about this is if you learn these things, they will give you internal support in your life and stop the outside sources of adversity from ever becoming the inside source of stress. We’ve said it hundreds of times. Adversity is inevitable, but stress is optional because adversity is what circumstances do to you and stress. Well, that’s what you do to yourself. So let’s talk about that. We started this study several weeks ago. I guess this will be number four on God loves you. I think that’s the most amazing statement in the whole Bible. Why would God love me? I’m just a jerk. Why love me? But the Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God loves me and God loves you. I spent my whole life wanting to be loved, and I guess you have too. I never really met my father. I don’t know who he was. I had conflicting reports before my mom passed away, but never having had a father, you know, I would have liked to have known what it’s like to have a father that loves me. Well, when I accepted Christ as my Savior, that void or that emptiness, that lack of love was filled up. And I discovered my Heavenly Father loved me and had a wonderful plan for my life. And it took a while to discover it. I had to get into a local church and get under a well-qualified pastor that I could learn God’s Word from. But as he taught the Word of God and the Holy Spirit unfolded it to me like a picture in front of my eyes, I began to see just how much God loved me. I could see that with his tolerance for my failures. I could see that with his support of my endeavors, the things that I did. God loved me. He really did. And it wasn’t a romantic love. It wasn’t the type of love that you might think. It was a comforting love that was full of security and full of expectation, knowing that my God loves me. And I know he loves you also. If he loves me, he loves you. You’re a lot better guy than I am. That’s amazing. And we talked about the principles on reflecting God’s love in our life. These are some of the things I wanted you to see. And by the way, all of these messages have been put into transcription form. We have three books available now. Each book includes four months. There’s 52 Sundays in a year. And we have 52 lessons that we do on the radio, and they’re all now transcribed into three different books, four months at a time. So you can actually read these messages, or you can go to the podcast on Apple iPod or Spotify, Breaker, Anchor, any of the podcast platforms, and listen to them again. Or go to our website, rickhughesministries.org, and look on the Flotline, all the radio shows for the last… 15 years are logged in there, and you can go back and listen to any of them. But anyhow, we want to continue the study on how you and I can reflect this immutable essence of love that God has for us. Can we, in fact, reflect that love to other people? And the answer is yes. Since love, and I told you this last week, since love is an immutable essence of our lives, Heavenly Father, I ask the question to you, was it possible for us to reflect it and show this same quality in our lives? And the answer was yes. You can, you should. We showed you in 1 John 4, 16, where the Bible says that we have come to know and have believed. That means we’ve metabolized it. We put it to work in our life and believe the love which God has for us. And here it is in a bold statement. God is love. And the one who abides in love, that reciprocates that love back to God. The one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. And by this, love is now perfected. The word perfected in the original languages of the Greek New Testament is teleoo, and it means to make perfect or to accomplish its results. So by this, love accomplishes its results in us. What are the results? So that we may have confidence in the day of evaluation, because as he is, that Christ is, So also are we in this world. We are reflecting his love. We are replicating his lifestyle. We are representing Christ to our neighbors. And you know we’re not immutable, and you know we sin, but we can do this. We can possess and operate under God’s system of virtue love. We can do that. It’s under the filling of the Holy Spirit. So when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, which is problem-solving device number two, the filling of the Holy Spirit, which comes about when you use problem-solving device number one, the rebound technique, or confessing your known sin to God, anytime you sin, you quench the Holy Spirit and you grieve him. When you go to God and admit the sin, then you are filled again or restored to fellowship. That’s what rebound does. And you are mandated in Ephesians 5.18 to be filled with the Spirit, not to quench Him, not to grieve Him. And so in Galatians 5.22, it says the fruit of that Spirit The results of that filling of that spirit is love. One of the first notifications, love, agape, love. That’s the Greek word, agape. All the things that are listed here, love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness. I told you they’re all the results of the filling of the Holy Spirit. And I told you that they are all characteristics or traits of divine love expressed to you. that God is long-suffering towards you, that God does show kindness towards you, that God does demonstrate self-control. God is faithful to you, and you can be faithful to him. And it says love doesn’t act rudely or behave rudely. Love doesn’t think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity. That’s true. So when we are filled with the Holy Spirit through the rebound technique, this gives us the ability to love one another. This is something very simple now. The Lord Jesus Christ said this, and I want you to think about this in your local church. If you go to church and there are a few people in there you can’t stand, and it’s probably an in-law or something, or maybe a relative. I’m just joking, you know that. But if there’s someone in your periphery that you can’t stand, listen to John 13, 34. A new commandment I give to you that you love agapao, the Greek word agapao. That’s the verb. You love one another even as I loved you. And you should also love one another. Now, this is the Lord saying I loved you even though you denied me, Peter. I loved you even though you weren’t faithful to stay awake when I was praying. I loved you. Lord Jesus Christ loved me, loved you, loved those disciples. We are products of his love. And we’re told here that we must love one another. And it says in this verse 35 of John 13, this is how people will know you’re my disciples. If you have love one for another. And that love is expressed in my way of thinking in long-suffering, putting up with, and having a relaxed mental attitude with no type of revenge motivation. So if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, if we are loving one another, then we have another divine asset that’s God’s asset called joy. Chara, C-H-A-R-A in the Greek New Testament, joy. This is the ninth problem-solving device, sharing the happiness of God. Jesus said in John 15, 11, these things I’ve spoken to you so that my joy may be in you. So there it is. The joy of the Lord is your strength, Nehemiah 8, 10. And so you need to remember these things. another characteristic of god’s immutable love for us was peace peace and we have wonderful peace with god and tranquility with god and it’s absolutely amazing and then we came to patience another characteristic of god’s divine love which is bestowed upon us and we can reflect that same divine love by being patient. 2 Thessalonians 3, 5. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, there it is, and into the patience of Christ. into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. That patience was manifested because he loved you and he loves me. If you think just for a minute how patient God is with us, you and I, you know, I’m kidding around a lot of times, but you know we probably should just be a big greasy spot in the earth somewhere, but we’re not. We’re still here. God loves us. God has a plan for our life. He tolerates us. He’s patient with us in spite of our failures, in spite of how ridiculous we may be sometimes. He loves you. You should fall on your knees and thank God he loves you. Because if he didn’t love you, you’d be in big, big trouble. He does love you. I don’t care what you’ve done. I don’t care where you are. He loves you. He sent his son to die for you, to take your place on the cross, to pay the penalty for your sin. That’s how much he loved you. He’s also a God of patience. In Romans 15, 5, the Bible says, “…the God of patience and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another.” So we saw this last week. We saw that God is a God of patience, and we saw in James 4 where we’re commanded to let patience have her perfect work in us so that we can be mature and lacking in nothing. And I told you about the word hupomone in James 1.4. Let hupomone, the word for patience, steadfastness have her perfect work in you. And I told you there are a lot of different words for patience in the Bible. And anytime you see the word patience, it’s always P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E, patience, but not in the Greek New Testament. It can be the word hupomone, and it can be the word macrothumia, and it can be the word anoke, three different Greek words, all translated into English, patience. The first word, macrothumia, means to persevere and this is patience towards people god expects us to have patience towards people just as he in love is patient with you so when you’re patient with people you’re reflecting god’s love through you first thessalonians 5 14 we exhort you brethren warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble, and support the weak, and be patient towards all men. Now, let me back up. Comfort the feeble-minded is what the verse says, not feeble weakness, feeble-minded, those that don’t have the doctrinal information to sustain the attack in the devil’s world. Comfort them. Support the weak, those that don’t have the spiritual strength, and be patient towards all men. Everyone’s not on the same page with you. That was a hard thing for me to learn. I wanted to grow quickly. I wanted to advance in my spiritual life and at accelerated speed. And others don’t. People just don’t. They’re so distracted. They have so many irons in the fire. They don’t find time to grow spiritually. And sometimes I was showing lack of patience. You have to be patient towards the weak, patient towards the feeble-minded. And that’s important, using macrothymia, patience. persevere with people but then there’s another word for patience and this is the word when we have adverse circumstances in our life when things go wrong and that’s the word hupomone h-u-p-o-m-e-n-o hupomino meno hupomino or hupomone i always say And Romans 12, 12, rejoicing in hope, being patient in tribulation, patient in tribulation. And Romans 5, 3, not only so, but we glory in our tribulation. I’m gonna make a note here of that. We glory in our tribulation, also knowing that tribulation teaches patience. Adversity teaches patience. Did you hear that? Tribulation teaches patience. The word for patience is hupomone. So when you go through trials, testing of your faith, it’s designed to teach patience to you. don’t you ever think for one minute that your heavenly father is unaware of the trials you’re going through in fact god himself because he loves you may have decreed these things for your own good so that he can teach you how to glorify him in future trials that you may face so you are mandated in the bible to be patient towards all men, which is macrothymia. You’re mandated to be patient in tribulation, which is hupomone. And you’re now going to see where God is long-suffering with you. Long-suffering with you. The Lord, listen carefully again. Here it is. The Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering towards us. That’s the word macrothymia. He’s patient with us. not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3, 9. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. That’s not what the lake of fire was prepared for. That’s why his son came into the world to die for us, because he loves us, and he’s long-suffering towards us. This is characteristic of God’s unfailing love for the lost. He’s never designed the lake of fire for you or for anyone on this earth. and he is long-suffering, not wanting any to perish. But I will tell you this. God’s patience has its limits. God’s patience has its limits. His grace and compassion have limits. Do you know what tries the patience of God? I’m not speaking for God, but I think this is clear in the Bible, negative volition. Negative volition. Volition is in your soul. It’s your desire to either know him or not know him. It’s your desire to either obey him or not obey him. Every decision you make, you choose your choice. You decide. And the negative volition of the world towards God’s word tries its patience. Isaiah 7, 13, he said, listen now, house of David, is it not enough for you to try the patience of men so that now you’re going to try the patience of my God also? Isaiah 7, 13. Where is this patience stopped? When does God say that’s enough? All right, I’ve had it with you. Romans 1.18, for the wrath of God, wrath of God, that’s the discipline of God, is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. If you go on to read the rest of Romans 1.18, 19, 20, you’ll be surprised what it’s talking about. What it’s talking about is the very evil, degenerate, perverse generation that we live in. We live in a twisted world, as you know, a world where everything is reversed. Someone once said dark is substituted for light and evil was substituted for good and bitterness is substituted for sweetness. So to borrow the words of the prophet Isaiah, it’s a twisted world where sins have become right, iniquities have become virtues, and evil is considered personal freedom. That’s a quote from the famous pastor John MacArthur. That’s what we live in. That’s the world we live in, a twisted, weird world. Now, God has something called forbearance. He tolerates this for a while. The word is anoke in the Greek New Testament, A-N-O-C-H-E, anoke, translated forbearance, and it means to hold back or delay punishment. the quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation, which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish. It’s the opposite of anger, and it’s associated with God’s mercy. Listen to 1 Peter 3.20. The long-suffering, macrophamia, of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which eight souls were saved by water. But there came a day when the door to the ark was closed. It closed. They had 120 years to get on that boat and they wouldn’t do it. And then when the rain started and the flood started and Noah was trying to be compassionate, open the door and let him in, God shut it. Men tried the patience of God, and that was it. Romans 2, 4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and his forbearance? That’s the word in okay. Long-suffering, macrophamia. So do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering? Don’t you know that the goodness of God leads to repentance? Listen, God gave those folks in the days of Noah 120 years to get it right. And all they did was laugh at that old man for building the boat in the middle of nowhere. God gives you plenty of time to either rebound and recover from your failure and perhaps even relocate. Or destroy yourself by rejecting his love and rejecting the grace that he offers you in Christ Jesus. Here’s a principle I want you to remember. Our long suffering is us being comforted by the love of God. Our patience is manifestation of his love flowing through us. We must do that. One, patience, the faith rest drill, plus occupation with Christ equals confidence in our life, which means we avoid emotional sins and frustration about failures and trials and tribulations. Two, patience maintains confidence in God’s perfect timing. Three, your faith will be tested, and through it, your patience will increase. That’s God’s design for you, to develop confidence and trust in him. And four, patience is divine good production. It’s rewardable at the judgment seat of Christ. Listen to what Paul writes in Titus 2.2, that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, sound in love, and sound in patience. This is what Titus was to teach so that sound doctrine would come to the older men in the congregation. The older men in the flock must learn patience, among other important doctrines. If there’s people that aren’t patient, it’s older people sometimes. So next principle, patience is not inherited. It must be acquired. And number seven, God’s love is manifested to you, to me, by his patience towards us, his long-suffering, his anoke, his long-suffering and his forbearance. You see, God’s love for you never gets frustrated at your failures. Thus, your divine and personal love does not demonstrate frustration towards others. You’re not allowed to get frustrated towards others because God doesn’t get frustrated towards you. And if you’re going to reflect the love of God, frustration is not in it. Your love for God is demonstrated by your patience with others. 1 Corinthians 13, 4. Love is patient. That means it’s calm in times of anger and it’s quick to forgive. Patience in adversity is indicative of spiritual maturity. That’s what the Bible says in Romans 12, 12. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in your prayers. In Ephesians 4, 2, Paul wrote, With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering forbearance, one another in love. Forbearing one another in love. With all humility… With all lowliness, Ephesians 4.2. The Greek word tapai no frusune. Tapai no frusune, interesting word. It means modesty or humility or humble opinion of self. With all lowliness, humility, and gentleness. The Greek word priotes, which is a mild disposition with patience, with long-suffering, patience, macrothymia, patience with people, endurance with people, showing tolerance for one another in agape love. Listen again. Ephesians 4.2, with all lowliness, patience, and meekness, and longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. That’s the extent of patience in your life. Four biblical indications of the love of God demonstrated through you. Macrothymia, anoke, forbearance, as these words we just gave you, all these words. All right, humility, gentleness, patience, and love. That’s an indication of God’s love demonstrated through you to the world which he loves. His love is reflected through you. You’re the agent of his love. And you must come to grips with that. You must come to grips with the fact that when you meet someone, you are to reflect God’s love to them. And there’s nothing wrong with telling them God loves you. Just like I’ve told you on this radio show for the last four shows, God loves you. And I’ve demonstrated through the scriptures why he loves you and how he loves you. He’s patient, he’s long-suffering, he’s enduring, but his patience has limits. Your negative volition can bring about your own destruction. Your arrogance can destroy you. When you get into self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption, you will eventually move into self-destruction. That is not God’s plan for you. God said he knew the plans he had for you in Jeremiah, a wonderful life, a great life, a life of happiness. not to destroy yourself, but you can do it when you ignore the mandates found in the word of God. God loves you. God has the best plan for you. He doesn’t intend to hurt you or harm you. He wants you to represent him to the world. That’s why you’re still here. Think about this. Think about every time you walk out of your door, you’re reflecting the love of God. Every time you get into your car and drive to the store, go down the interstate, you’re reflecting the love of God. Don’t forget it. God loves you, and you must love in return. Not only God reciprocating his love to you, but loving others as well. That’s what our Lord Jesus Christ did, and that’s what he mandates you to do as well. There’s so much to say and so little time. Thank you for listening. I hope you come back next week, same time, same place. Until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flotline.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
