Ye have need of patience. (Quality: very good)

[0:00] I'm feeling so much to need God-given strength and help. I venture this evening in directing your thoughts to Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 10, and reading verse 36.

[0:23] Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 10, and reading verse 36.

[0:34] For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

[0:55] Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 10, and verse 36. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

[1:17] Well, first of all, I would ask a question, which I so often find I'm compelled to do in the solemn ministry of God's word.

[1:36] But the Lord knows if there are those here this evening who have been given a promise, which it may indeed appear to you in this that the promise is dead and buried, as it were, in the grave.

[2:06] How may we know that God has given to us a promise? Well, I can tell you, I believe not always, but I believe indeed that when the Lord will give any poor sinner a promise, he will first prepare our hearts to receive it.

[2:42] And that, I believe, often is a painful process. Because if the Lord has given any of you a promise, it will have come at the appointed time, and often it comes under deep distress, it comes sometimes in deep affliction, it can come under temptation, it can come, of course, wherever the Lord may be pleased, to give it to us.

[3:32] So, this verse, it speaks, and this is where we venture to begin our meditation. The word in this verse is, it concludes then with, ye might receive the promise.

[3:52] And again, I must ask you, you will know if this is so. You will know if God has given you a promise.

[4:03] And whatever that promise may be bound up with, it may be bound up, indeed, in your own soul's experience.

[4:18] It may be bound up in and with, and that although those that are included in a promise, they may not and often do not know that a promise has been given to another for them.

[4:41] That can only be made known as the Lord unfolds it. But have you been given a promise? When the Lord does give a word of promise, it will come so sovereignly.

[5:03] It will come sometimes when you least expect it. It may come, and often does, in places that you would have least expected it.

[5:19] Just to illustrate the thought at least, I have told you, and the Lord may even have given someone here this evening, the very same words of promise.

[5:34] But as I was standing on the threshold of coming here, as the unworthy pastor, I drew into a petrol station to get petrol.

[5:49] And while I was there waiting, in those days, often we were served for our petrol. But while I was waiting to be served, just so completely, quietly, directly, and in that sense, unexpectedly, the Lord began to give me words of promise.

[6:17] And they were these, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And there for a few moments it stopped.

[6:29] But the Lord didn't leave it there. It went on. Again, I take it out. And if any one of you have been given such words of promise, you will know, you will know that they've been given you.

[6:47] You will know this, and I'm sure when the Lord does give a promise, it will be accompanied by humbling grace. And sometimes it will just fill our minds with awe and wonder that ever such truth can ever be fulfilled.

[7:06] So again, I go through it. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And then it went on, and ordained you, that ye should go, and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

[7:24] Now, many years have passed over me since that day, but I just tell you, because of this especially, it took place at a petrol station.

[7:39] And you know, whenever God speaks words of promise, it will come sovereignly, it will come, yes, it can come, in answer to prayer.

[7:52] It can come when we have not prayed or asked. The Lord is a sovereign in this. But when a word or words of promise are given, it will humble us.

[8:08] It will bring us into the dust. And we shall feel, Lord, however can such truth as this be fulfilled in my life?

[8:22] Now, I'm going to tell you something else, because I've proved this also. I have known on three distinct occasions when I thought that the Lord had spoken his word to me.

[8:43] In each case, it was solemn truth. In each case, it was certain truth. Now, I thought that the Lord had spoken to me.

[8:57] I could tell you what it was, but I forbear to do that. But three times, I have thought that the Lord had spoken to me. But future events proved that he permitted the devil to quote scripture.

[9:18] Now, if any of you are asking the question, how can I know the difference between when Satan is permitted and he is permitted, sometimes as an angel of light, and friends, we know that he can quote scripture because he quoted it or he spoke it to the eternal Son of God.

[9:39] Now, I can tell you this, and I tell you from my heart, if the Lord permits the devil to quote scripture or to speak the word of God to you, it will always be accompanied with distress.

[9:54] It will be accompanied with distress and anguish. Now, I have proved it. But when the Lord speaks a word of promise, it will humble us.

[10:10] We will be filled with a measure of the same truth as Saul of Tarsus knew on the Damascus road. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

[10:28] He trembled. He was astonished at what the Lord was doing with him. So, the Lord knows where there are those here tonight that have been given a promise.

[10:44] It may have been many years ago. It may have been in more recent years. It may have been even during the week that's now passed.

[10:56] But you will know, you will know the difference if the devil has spoken or if the Lord has spoken.

[11:07] I've tried to tell you the difference. One brings distress. It brings anguish. It brings fear. The other brings humbling grace, astonishment, and wonder, and wonder that ever the Lord should speak such words of promise.

[11:30] Now, has the Lord given any of you? and I'm sure that he has. He's given you a promise.

[11:43] It may take you back many years. It may have been when the Lord gave you a child before a child was born, after a child was born.

[11:58] The Lord has often used the birth of children as a means of grace. Oh, I know that he has. And we thank God for this.

[12:11] And those of us here tonight that can look back to the birth of a child, children. Yes, it may have been accompanied with much concern.

[12:27] Those of us who love our wives, when that time comes with them that a child is to be born, we live in it with them. Oh, yes, we live in it with them.

[12:41] And we're aware of the reality of it. Now, you see, when the Lord gives a word of promise, did you have a word of promise when your son was born, your daughter was born, or before they were born, or since they were born?

[13:01] You know, just again, to illustrate the point, I had a very dear auntie, my mother, having died when I was six years old, I know I've said that before, but just to illustrate the thought, a dear auntie of mine, and you know, in mercy the Lord laid me in her heart, and oh, how she carried me for many years.

[13:30] And on one occasion, this was spoken to her, can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

[13:41] And I can tell you why that came, because at that time, I was a very naughty boy. And as that dear woman, dear mother in Israel, as she looked at me, and you see, well, it may have been the devil, that I must leave, but that came, you know, can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

[14:01] It didn't look as though it could. And to any of you here tonight, that are carrying a promise, it may look to you, as though, well, you may feel it's buried in the grave.

[14:15] Or you may view the promise, and everything, something has come against it, so that now as you see it, and think about it, it seems perhaps impossible.

[14:31] It seems perhaps further off than ever. Indeed, you may wonder, will it ever come to pass? Now let me ask you another question. Can you give it up?

[14:44] Can you give the promise up? Can you give the promises up? I can tell you this, that you won't be able to give them up if God has given them to you.

[15:00] But how often another word is bound up with a God-given promise, and it's this, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, shall be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[15:26] And I know I'm saying things to you this evening, but I'm saying them from my heart. You see, we have to keep learning this over and over again, that our God must have and will have all the praise and the honour and the glory.

[15:49] If the Lord brought promises to pass in an easy kind of way in our lives, we should soon be lifted up with pride.

[16:01] We should soon be saying, as I believe it says in Deuteronomy chapter 8, my own hand hath gotten me this wealth, or mine own hand hath gotten me the fulfilment of this, and you'd be lifted up with pride.

[16:20] And dear friends, you know the Lord won't have it. He will not have it in our lives. And so much that happens, another word is fulfilled in the book of Ecclesiastes, and it's this.

[16:39] In the day of prosperity, be joyful. But in the day of adversity, consider. Why? Because God has set the one over against the other to the end that man shall find nothing after him.

[16:59] And if you have been given discernment in watching these things, yes, in the lives of others, or in your own life, you will see this.

[17:15] You will see it. I think just for a moment of William Gadsby. You know that a dear man of God whom was used in a most remarkable way.

[17:32] Many chapels were commenced and established under his labours in the ministry. And this brings me to another thought regarding this word.

[17:46] You see, there will always be ballast. There will be the corresponding ballast to whatever God may give to us or whatever God may say to us.

[18:00] What was the ballast that William Gadsby had? I can't remember the exact years, but I've got a feeling it was 20 years. His dear wife, she suffered with insane jealousy.

[18:15] I do not wonder in a sense that she did because her husband was never at home and I know that he was fulfilling the will of God.

[18:28] But I think, you know, of God's servants in this. I think of their wives and I sometimes feel we tend to forget them and they need to be prayed for in certain ways as much as their husbands.

[18:44] But, oh, you see, the Lord knew what kind of ballast to give William Gadsby because the Lord so used his ministry.

[18:55] But that was the ballast that God gave him. His wife suffered with insane jealousy. You know, and it went right on to the dear man came to die.

[19:06] And I've read this, this is true, that even when he was dying, his wife didn't believe it. His wife didn't believe it. She didn't believe that he was dying.

[19:20] You know, jealousy is as cruel as the grave, but insane jealousy is ten times worse because it related to the state of her mind.

[19:32] But another thought was this, as William Gadsby came to the end of his life and ministry, oh, the devil stirred up trouble in his church and trouble in the chapel.

[19:45] And I'm saying this because it's come into my thoughts. You know, in the lives of God's servant there's a continual balancing of the clouds. And it's to preserve us from pride.

[20:00] It's to preserve a pastor from making an idol of his people. people. They belong to the Lord, they don't belong to him. I know how he feels about them, these dear souls whom God may have given to him.

[20:16] He loves them dearly, but it also will preserve people from making an idol of their pastor. and again, I have to tell you that the Lord will not have it.

[20:31] He will not have it. And he knows how to preserve his people. Now, you may say, well, do preach to us from this verse.

[20:43] The Lord helped me to do it. But I've tried first of all to establish this. And the Lord knows where his word will go this evening.

[20:53] he knows what hearts have been prepared to receive this. So I ask you, do you have a promise?

[21:05] Do you have promises? More than one? And you may go back, as I've said, over many years. And now you've perhaps come to the point, and it seems as though it can never ever come to pass, but a word comes to my mind in this, and it is, I, the Lord, will hasten it in his time.

[21:32] The vision is yet for an appointed time, but in the end it will speak, and will not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come.

[21:46] You know, and when the Lord does bring a promise to pass, it may not be in the way that we think. It so often isn't.

[21:58] Again, it's, you see, it's to preserve us. I know what I'm saying. I know what I'm saying in this, even regarding the solemn work of the ministry.

[22:11] The Lord knew how to bring it to pass. The Lord knew the opposition that was needed. And yet, one looks back.

[22:22] Can you look back this evening? And even to thank God that ever he should have done what he has in your life.

[22:35] Now let us come to what then is needed in this. For ye have need of patience patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise.

[22:57] For ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise.

[23:21] Now there's very important teaching in this. Very important teaching. What does it really mean? well it means this that the will of God must first be done in your life.

[23:43] What does that mean? It means that the will of God has been made known to you.

[23:55] How does the Lord make his will known that he may fulfill the promise that he has given? Well I've had to try and speak like this from time to time over the years.

[24:11] But you see this is God's word. I trust the Lord has given it to me for this evening. Friend the Lord is saying this to someone here.

[24:24] I may never know who but he's saying it to someone. He may be saying it to more than one. But this is God's word regarding your promise or promises for ye have need of patience that after not before but after ye have done the will of God.

[24:51] How may we know in our hearts and lives what the will of God is? Well I venture to speak of it in a number of ways.

[25:06] First of all has the Lord burdened you with his word has he burdened you with the words of promise that he's given you?

[25:20] because that is what happens when the Lord speaks a promise it will burden our hearts and faith will be given at that time to believe what the Lord has said although it may seem and often does seem absolutely impossible that faith believes it and hope will expect it.

[25:49] You may have to wait for years for the fulfilment of it but sometimes this is one of the ways in which the Lord does give a promise he burdens the soul with it whatever that is and I can tell you this that the very burden of your soul the very burden of your soul reveals that God has given you this because you are carrying it and the Lord will not allow you as it were to put it down from time to time there will be a renewal there will be a renewal of the promise and there will be a renewal of the exercise can I just try to illustrate the point again in this you know regarding the solemn work of the ministry when the

[26:59] Lord lays the burden of the word of God in the heart of a poor trembling man he lays it there he lays the burden of the ministry in a poor trembling man's heart now that very burden and that burden will increase the Lord knows how long a man will have to carry it it may be many years it may not be so long but the time that he carries it is of course in the hands of God but all the while a poor trembling man carries the burden of the word of God in his heart the Lord will go on with that burden and in a number of ways it will be made known when a man receives this he will find that the

[28:02] Lord will bring his word into the heart the Holy Spirit will open that word and with it from time to time there will be this this burden and there will be times when a poor trembling man will find himself preaching yes preaching to a congregation and even while about his daily work this can go on I've known it and in fact I knew it sometimes to such an extent that I had to say Lord I can't bear it oh but the Lord knows now regarding the solemn work of the ministry for ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise now what does that mean it's after ye have done the will of

[29:03] God of course that is with the Lord that I believe that when the Lord brings a poor trembling man nearer and nearer to the day that he must go forth on the walls of Zion that burden will become I was going to say it will become unbearable it will become such a burden that it cannot be hidden and the Lord will bring it to pass in his own sovereign way and manner yes the Lord will bring it to pass but he will do it in his own way so we think of it in that light but also we think of it another way for ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God you might receive the promise now again are there those here tonight that are carrying a burden the burden of the very word or promise that

[30:05] God has given to you you're carrying it it's with you and it's with you day in and day out and yet in a sense the whole thing increases this I think perhaps for a moment as it comes to my mind when the Lord will bring any of his dear people to make an open profession well the Lord lays the exercise within the heart and that exercise will continue it will grow and there will be a continual seeking the will of God in it and there will be the times when those that have it will come yet again there may be someone that's come here tonight I do not know but you will know if you have have you come here this evening with this burden in your heart well the only way that you'll get relief from that burden I can tell you is to open your mouth it's to open your mouth then will

[31:11] I tell to sinners round what a dear saviour I have found I point to his redeeming blood and say behold the way to God and if there's one soul here this evening that is carrying this burden what is the answer what is God's answer for you well it's this if you tarry till morning light some mischief will befall you some of us have proved this if you tarry till morning light some mischief will befall you it's come and hear all ye that fear God and I will tell you what he has done for my soul well are you carrying that burden this is this is indeed one of the ways in which we may know the will of God it's through the very exercise of our soul and we could enlarge on that in other ways for ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of

[32:14] God ye might receive the promise now another way in which the Lord reveals his will and he doesn't always do this but he may burden your heart in asking which you will ask for a word or words of guidance this will exercise your soul and when the Lord does this and burdens our heart in that way you will then come to the word of God in secret have you known what it is during the past week have you had to go to your Bible have you prayed over it I know it's not always like this but sometimes it is I have known it myself when one has come to the word of God and we have been so exercised before God regarding his will and we have prayed and said

[33:15] Lord may I open thy word and Lord can it please me speak to me now when the Lord does this really does this he will fulfill that for you and if you have known it you will understand what I have said when you come to the word of God and you've opened it I remember when burdened regarding the solemn exercise concerning the ministry of God's word when the Lord burdened me regarding becoming a pastor and it was in January 1968 and I went into my little shed I worked as a gardener and I went into that shed and I said

[34:15] Lord speak to my soul tell me Lord is this this is another way in which we may know the will of God you'll want to know it you'll not want to be presumptuous in it you'll not want to put your hand to it well I opened my Bible that morning and this is what I read in that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them and they shall know that I am the Lord and you see that very year I was I had a letter inviting me to come here on probation and the Lord you see he he leads his people he leads them and he brings them into these exercises so that is another way in which the Lord does reveal his will and of course not only as we come to the words in secret as we come to it around the family altar and of course as we come into the house of

[35:25] God with the exercises of our soul and there are those of you here tonight that have proved this you prove the will of God when you come to chapel with the exercise that you are carrying you may have had particular exercise you may have even been moved to pray that a certain hymn might be given out you may have been moved to pray that the Lord would bring his servant perhaps with a particular word he doesn't always do this but there are times when he does oh yes there are times when he does do this in answer to urgent wrestling prayer I wonder if anyone has been praying even this week even since the morning service and you said Lord if this exercise is of the bring thy servant to speak to me this evening well I hope I am I'm telling you that this is

[36:25] God's way for you and it's in this way that his will will be performed for you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise no it's after you have done the will of God and then of course another way in which the Lord does sometimes make his will known is that he may lay as it were a persuasion in our hearts he lays a persuasion there it may be that we've got perhaps and sometimes it is we've got to go to a certain chapel may not be the chapel that we normally attend but if the Lord gives a persuasion in that respect then you'll have to go and I know this that when the

[37:26] Lord does do this there's a purpose in it have you been given a persuasion have you been given such a persuasion you may have had to take a journey you may have had to go to a certain house a certain place but the Lord has given you a persuasion forgive me if I just tell you again what happened in my own life when the late dear Mr.

[37:53] David Mulvey passed away and I could take you to the spot of ground and the Lord laid this in my heart and I said Lord can it please thee to sanctify this dear man's death to me that's how I had to pray and then what well the Lord gave me such a persuasion that I must go to his funeral and the thing was humanly impossible but I had to work I had to work on Easter Monday that was the day before his funeral that year I had to work on Easter Monday so that I could go and there was such opposition to it and as I left my home to go to that funeral service it was just as though the devil was in the passenger seat the whole way there saying to me whatever you're doing this for Doug well you see what I didn't know was this dear

[38:54] Mr. Headley West he'd been praying he'd asked the Lord for a sign and he'd said Lord if it's right for me to speak to my brother deacons about this this man then Lord grant me this sign make him come oh may he come make him come Lord to David Mulvey's funeral. And of course the Lord did that.

[39:21] And I might add the thought that his wife said to him, you're asking an impossible thing. Mr. Mercer will never be able to come, but friends, oh I know this, sometimes the Lord will give us a persuasion.

[39:37] We've known it here. I knew an occasion when a dear man, he had to come here on a Wednesday evening and it was as though the Lord said you must go to Grove Road, he didn't worship here, but he had to come. And you see he had to come for this that evening because the Lord, and I would say it to the glory of my God, the Lord helped me, of course I knew nothing about it till afterwards, but the Lord helped me to preach Jesus to that dear man. And to use his own words, he went home embracing the dear Lord in the arms of faith. Now he was given a persuasion.

[40:16] Have you had to come here tonight? Has somebody had to come here this evening? You may not worship here, but have you had to come? Have you come here because you've got this persuasion that you've had to come and you've prayed your way here and you've asked the Lord for a sign perhaps? Well here it is. For ye have need of patience.

[40:42] Yes, there's still going to be need of patience. You see, it doesn't mean to say that this is going to be fulfilled tomorrow or today. It might be.

[40:54] But it may be yet an appointed time. But you won't be able to lose it. You'll carry it. And you'll know that it's come from God. And I can tell you how.

[41:06] Thus thy word, the power possessing, shall declare from whence it came. That it hasn't come from me. If the Lord has spoken to anyone here this evening, I'd tell you it hasn't come from me.

[41:18] But I trust that it's come from God. So the Lord sometimes reveals his will in that way with a persuasion laid in the heart. And then of course he will sometimes bring us into such a state and condition.

[41:36] And I say it with great reverence. That all you can do, all we will be able to do is just avenge you. And I understand that the late Mr. Jabez Field, the pastor at Black Boys, is he used to tell his people that venturing faith was great faith.

[41:56] But you know, when a poor sinner gets to the point in a thing and you'll have to venture, you know, this thought has come, so I must express it.

[42:07] And it wasn't here. It was in another of our chapels. But one Lord's Day, there was a dear young man, maybe a young man here tonight or a young woman, but a dear young man was exercised regarding a wife.

[42:24] Now he asked the Lord that the minister might come with those well-known words in Genesis 24. And it was this.

[42:35] And they called Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.

[42:49] Now, you know that young man, he prayed for this. And again, I say it to the honour and glory of God, but you know, dear friends, I was working that Saturday by a pond.

[43:04] And the Lord gave me those very words. It wasn't to bring here to Grove Road, but it was to take somewhere else. And I knew that I'd got to take it to that chapel.

[43:16] You see, I didn't know that that young man had been praying for it. But what happened? Well, we had to read, I think, part of the chapter, however much of it. We had to give out the very text.

[43:29] Now he ventured to ask the Lord for such a sign. What did he do? What did he do about it?

[43:41] Well, you know, he went to that dear young woman that he was carrying in his heart. He went to her and he told her what had happened. Yes, he told her what had happened.

[43:54] What did he find? Well, he found this, that that young woman had also been exercised about the very same thing. And so they came together and they'd been married for a good many years now.

[44:09] Now, you see, there you have the venture of faith. He ventured to us and we've known it here when this venturing faith is given.

[44:21] Now, sometimes the Lord fulfills his will in that way. And finally, sometimes the Lord makes his will known to us by the very circumstances that are going on in our life.

[44:39] The Lord often speaks through circumstances. The things that are happening in your life, the Lord's speaking to you. He's revealing his will to you.

[44:51] And sometimes the Lord grants clear direction in that respect. The very things that are happening in our life that so often, indeed, I believe, the Lord is constantly speaking to us in that way, day after day and in different ways.

[45:12] Now, think of the circumstances in your life. Have you been made aware that the Lord is speaking to you? Have you been made aware of it now if you have, you must obey his voice?

[45:25] You must obey his voice. God is speaking. And I must leave these thoughts. But I hope that you've, the Lord has spoken into some heart or hearts here this evening.

[45:40] For ye have need of patience. You're going to need patience. And patience does not grow on nature's barren soil. some of us are far more impatient than others.

[45:53] If you're impatient, I believe that often with those that are impatient, the Lord will keep you waiting longer. To those who perhaps, they are the complete opposite.

[46:08] They have a complete opposite to that. They are procrastinators. And you know, some people are. they procrastinate.

[46:19] And they put it off. And they put it off. And they still put it off. But others, of course, they're impatient. So the Lord deals with us in the way that he knows exactly what we are.

[46:36] But I tell you, you're going to need patience. and the God is at the limit. You're in the moment.