God of Kindness, Forbearance, Patience

	How well do you know God?  Does it matter whether or not you know Him?
	"For after all it is {only} just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you," Paul promises in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8, "and {to give} relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus."
	It is vital that we know God.  So let's devote a few broadcasts to learning about God.  Of course, we will be able to merely scratch the surface of such a profound topic.  So you will need to consider these programs to be just the starting points for your own studies.
	"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" Paul wonders in Romans 2:4-11. "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. {There will be} tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For there is no partiality with God."
	What does this passage tell us about God?  It tells us that He is the God of kindness, forbearance and patience.
	God is the God of kindness.
	"Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief," Romans 11:20-22 notes, "but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.  Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."
	The first thing we notice about the kindness of God is that it is contrasted with His severity.  If God is kind, He is also severe.  We choose the side which we will face.  If we choose His kindness, we must continue in it.  We cannot pretend to follow God for a short time and then do what ever we want to.  We must believe in order to benefit from His kindness.  We must also repent.
	"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience," we have already read in Romans 2:4, "not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?"
	God's kindness is associated with our faith and repentance.  And it is the demonstration of God's grace in Christ Jesus.
	"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us," we find in Ephesians 2:4-7, "even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly {places}, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
	God's kindness is a demonstration of His grace.  It is also a demonstration of His love.
	"For we also once were foolish ourselves," Paul notes in Titus 3:3-7, "disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.  But when the kindness of God our Savior and {His} love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to {the} hope of eternal life."
	God is the God of kindness.  In addition, He is the God of forbearance.
	"But now apart from the Law {the} righteousness of God has been manifested," Paul instructs in Romans 3:21-26, "being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even {the} righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. {This was} to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, {I say,} of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
	According to this passage, the forbearance of God demonstrates His righteousness.  It is God's forbearance which causes Him to pass over sins which have been committed.  This forbearance, however, is available only to those who believe.  It is also limited to those who repent.
	"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance," Paul states in Acts 17:30, "God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent." 
	God is the God of kindness and forbearance.

	God is the God of kindness and forbearance.  According to Romans 2:4, He is also the God of patience.
	"What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?" Romans 9:22 inquires.
	God is willing to demonstrate His wrath and make His power known.  However, He endures with much patience some of those who would otherwise be destined for destruction.  Who are these vessels?  They are the people who turn to God for salvation.
	"It is a trustworthy statement," Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:15-17, "deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to  save sinners, among whom I am foremost {of all.} And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, {be} honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
	God is patient with those who seek eternal life through faith in Jesus.
	"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness," 2 Peter 3:9 explains, "but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 
	"Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things," 2 Peter 3:14-15 urges, "be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord {to be} salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you."
	God's patience is evident in the fact that He allows us time to repent.
	"For Christ also died for sins once for all," 1 Peter 3:18-21 points out, "{the} just for {the} unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits {now} in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through {the} water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
	God is patient with those who appeal to Him for good consciences through baptism.
	God is kind, forbearing and patient.  What common factors have we found regarding these characteristics?  First of all, God is kind, forbearing and patient in spite of the things we have done.  We don't deserve being treated this way.  God's kindness, forbearance and patience are expressed through Jesus.  And they are available through salvation.  We must believe, repent and be baptized in order to benefit from God's kindness, forbearance and patience.
	There is one more element in common.  God's kindness, forbearance and patience stand in contrast with His wrath.  If we don't benefit from the first, we will experience the second.  Let's make certain that we know God.  Let's know the truth so that we can be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."