And today we turn once again into our Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, verses 1 through 3. The third part of the message entitled, A Character You'll Never Forget. We must never underestimate the power of one personality to stamp its influence on another. For example, no parent dares overlook that truth. forming force on one another. That's why it's so important how we speak to one another in the home. I'm talking to some boys and girls here this morning,
teenagers. It's very important how you speak to one another, to your brothers, to your sisters, because you see, you are helping to form that other person's personality, how that other person thinks about himself, about the family, about the world that he lives in. It's formed in part by your words, just as their words have an influence on you in the way that you're thinking. So please, let's all redouble our efforts. Be careful how we speak to one another, how we influence one
another. Because you see, the impress of another person upon us is just tremendous in life. No two persons can come into a meaningful relationship. and leave each other unmarked. A definite impression is left. The human personality is at the same time both remarkably resilient and deeply impressionable. For good or for ill, we are all impacted by the
meaningful people who surround us. Now because of this dynamic, which inevitably occurs in relationships, Because of the power that we have to mar or to mark other people, this text that we're looking at is so potently instructive. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another. in love. A lifestyle worthy of our calling in
Jesus Christ will do eternal good. You may feel that there are times when you are seeking to live for Christ and there's no benefit in it. But I want you to know that as you are seeking to live a lifestyle that is worthy of your calling as a child of God, you are doing good. More good than you can possibly know about, so don't get discouraged in it. Be encouraged. The contrary is true as well, of course, that a lifestyle unworthy of our calling inflicts damage on others
that's impossible to calculate. The damage that has been done in the last few weeks to the cause of Jesus Christ is very difficult for us to know at this point, but it's frightening. An encounter with a Spirit -filled child of God is a refreshing experience. Such a person can leave an indelible impression that may literally change the course of our lives. As I look back over my life, I can identify certain men and women who were living as Ephesians 4, verses 1 through 3 instructs
us. And because of the work of the Spirit of God in them and through them, my life was changed. I think of when I was a young boy, when I was first saved, the man who baptized me, and the impression that that pastor made on my life as a nine -year -old, ten -year -old boy who was without a father. But the kindliness, the thoughtfulness, the gentleness. of that man of God. It changed me. And all of you have similar people. And as a matter of fact, I hope that all of us are that
kind of person. The kind of lifestyle that characterizes the child of God is described in simple qualities that are pointed out to us in our text. The first quality is that of humility. Walk in humility. That is a distinctively Christian virtue. It means thinking of ourselves properly and putting others before us as being more important. And then he tells us that we're to walk in gentleness, gentleness which is restrained strength. It is power that is harnessed and channeled in the
right direction to help others. It is also translated at times meekness, which means we are slow to insist on our own rights. And now we come to a third quality in our list. It is that of patience. Certainly another quality which should mark the character of one who is God's royal child is that of patience. It, too, helps preserve the unity of a local church. and marks a life indelibly as belonging to Jesus Christ. But what is patience? How can we explain that word? Literally, the
word means long -tempered. It refers to a holding out, a long holding out of the mind before giving room to action or passion. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says this, Patience is the spirit which never gives up, for it endures to the end even in times of adversity. It is the self -restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong. The word patience is elaborated upon in our text, for it says we are to walk with patience showing forbearance to one another in love. Forbearance.
What does that mean? The word is fairly self -explanatory. It means to bear up. It means to hold up another. Commentator Eady says it is to have patience with someone till the provocation is over. It means to endure injury. and to pay no attention to it. You and I talk about putting up with others or with circumstances, and yet down inside we're boiling and churning with emotion, often with anger. That is not what this word means. It's not merely an outward putting up
with a situation. It is a forbearance that is described in love. which means that love is the root of it. It flows out of love in our hearts, love which is patient, according to 1 Corinthians 13. That love enables us to bear with other people, to bear with circumstances, and to do it with a calmness of spirit, a settledness within, not a churning. Skevington Woods says it is to put up with another's faults and idiosyncrasies, knowing that we have our own. That last little
clause there helps all of us. If we just remember that we have our own little habits that irritate others. This word long -suffering needs to be branded upon our lives and our marriages. We need to be long -tempered with each other as we learn to live together. And let's face it, marriage is a learning process. I had two weddings yesterday. And as I looked at those young couples uniting their lives together, I was filled with
joy for them. But I also recognized in my own heart, as being down the road a little ways, that they've got some lessons to learn. On that wedding day, everything is so emotional and joyful, but there are rough times ahead. That is always true in any marriage. Any husband, any wife has little habits that don't come to the surface until down the road, right? You didn't see them before. As they say, love is blind. Marriage is an eye -opener. And you've got your eyes open.
And suddenly you're able to see some of those habits, some of those patterns that just grate you slightly the first time. And then it begins to grate a little more until it begins to grind. Well, that's when communication is so important, to be able to talk together openly about those things. But all of that takes long suffering. We need it in our marriages. We need to be long -tempered with each other, forbearing with one another, letting love produce that fruit in us.
Not only is it true in marriages where both are Christians, but perhaps it's even more true in those situations where one of the spouses has become a Christian and the other is not. You can understand the kind of tension that arises because suddenly this unconverted one says, This isn't the same person I married. And it's absolutely true. That person is new in his or her ideals and motivations and desires. A new person in Jesus Christ. That brings all kinds of stress
to a marriage. That saved one, that one who knows Christ, needs to express long -suffering, patience. Toward that one who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only those who are married, but those who are in college dorms. Or who are career people living with other singles. You need patience there too. Because inevitably there are those irritations that come up. That roommate who never picks up after himself. Whose clothes are always filed. On the floor instead of hung in the closet.
Patience. It's true of parents with children. And children with parents. You teenagers need to be patient with your parents. They're learning as fast as they can. Give them a chance. Be patient with them. And we parents, we need to be long -suffering with our children. It's not easy growing up. It never has been. Never will be. But I tell you, in the age today, we need patience. It's
true with fellow workers. You know, that person who sits next to you at work in the office, who has that way of talking maybe, that voice that just cuts you, just the sound of it. It's not what the person says. It's the sound of the voice. And this goes through you every time he or she answers the telephone. Maybe it's the fact that you're sitting in an office next to a smoker where there's nothing to get to you faster than
that. Go into a restaurant to enjoy a meal and find yourself in a fog all the time, your nose starting to run and be congested because someone next to you has acquired that habit. Patience. It is that quality of mind that holds out and is slow to bring charge, slow to accuse, retaliates. We have a perfect example of this, of course, in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect example
in all of these qualities, isn't he? When we talk about walking worthy, and specifically we mention humility and gentleness, patience with forbearance. We're talking about Jesus' life. I mean, the way that he lived, the quality of life that was his. I'd like for you to turn with me back into the Gospels, and since today is the day it is, Palm Sunday, let's take a look at that event that we remember on this occasion
by turning to Matthew 21. You can go back into the life of Jesus and find these qualities at so many points expressed, including this one. Matthew 21, beginning in verse 1. It says that when they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go into the village opposite you and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her.
Untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone says something to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them. Then Matthew says, Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. And here he begins to quote from Zechariah. Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you. Now in Matthew, remember, Jesus Christ is presented as the king. And now he is officially presenting himself to the people
of Israel in what's about to take place. So what Zechariah wrote hundreds of years before this is literally coming to pass. He is coming to you, and notice how he is coming. Gentle. You've seen that word before in Ephesians 4? Not only gentle, but it says mounted on a donkey, even a colt. the foal of a beast of burden. Our Lord set upon an unbroken young colt. The mother was brought along so that the colt would follow her. But he set upon that unbroken beast of burden.
That was an act of humility on his part. One day he is going to come as the sovereign from heaven. He's going to come in a white charger. But on this occasion, as he presents himself as the king to Israel, he comes riding upon this beast of burden, evidencing his lowliness of mind, his humility. And it says the disciples went and did just as Jesus had directed them, and brought the donkey and the colt and laid
on them their garments on which he sat. And most of the multitude spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. This was customary in association with the Feast of Tabernacles, associated with the Jews. They observed that feast annually, and part of it was the cutting off of fronds from palm trees and the waving
of them. That was part of the ceremony. And so on this occasion, as Jesus came into the city, They broke off those branches and began to wave them. Some of them tossed them onto the street. Others took off their outer garments and laid them down to make a paved way, a highway, as it were, for this king. And the multitudes going before him and those followed after him were crying out, saying, Hosanna to the son of David. Notice his kingly name, son of David. The word
Hosanna originally meant Lord save. Or save now. It was a plea. But it came to be used as a word of praise. And so they were praising their king as well as asking him to save the nation. Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. So this was quite an emotional scene. Can you put yourself back there and walk with them? as they came down the side of the Mount of Olives
and entered into the city of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is presenting himself as the king of the Jews. They are welcoming him into the city, waving their palms, joyous, shouting, excitement filled the air. It says when he had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is this? And the multitudes were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth and Galilee. Now the people who came with Jesus into the city shouting were mostly Galileans. They were the country bumpkins
of the day. They came into the sophisticated city of Jerusalem shouting as they did, and these cosmopolitan slickers said, who is this? And notice how they responded, this is Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. He's one of us. Isn't it amazing that as our Savior came to present himself as the king, the people in Jerusalem said, who is this? Who is this? The Pharisees rebuked his disciples and the multitude on that occasion, according to Luke. They said, do you see what
these people are doing? Do you hear what they are saying? And are you going to allow them to do this? And Jesus, with great patience, said to those people who knew who he was and rejected him, he said to them on that occasion, if they don't say what they're saying, the very stones themselves will cry out. As our Lord was... coming into Jerusalem. He came over the crest of the Mount of Olives, and the city of Jerusalem was laid before him. Some of you have been there,
to Jerusalem. You have seen that. Would you like to go sometime? It is one of the most beautiful sights in the world to stand on the Mount of Olives and to look upon the city of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, right there. And then the city spread out behind it. Jesus saw that sight as it was in that day, as he was coming into the city, just coming over the crest of the mount. He looked and saw it, and he burst into tears. He began to weep. And he said, Oh, Jerusalem,
if only you had known. If only you had received me. He began to speak to the city then, as it were, and to warn them of judgment that was to come. He warned them that their population would be slain and that there would not be one stone left on top of another. He was speaking of the work of Vespasian and Titus when in 70 AD the city, after two years of siege, was finally destroyed and burned and the stones were pulled down. And today there are just those parts of the buildings
that were left buried in those days. that still remained from that part of Jerusalem. It was destroyed. That tells us that there is an end to the patience of God. But oh, the patience of Jesus that we see as he comes into the city, knowing that within a few days these very people would assist in putting him on the cross. And it's to us who follow him. That the word of God says, be patient. In 1 Thessalonians 5 .14 it says, be patient with all men. And you women
like that verse. Because it says men, but I want you to know it's generic. It's be patient with all people. Not just those who are saved, but those who are unsaved as well. Be patient with all. We are in such a hurry, aren't we? We are used to having instant results. We would not even think of buying a TV or a radio or even a calculator these days that has to wait to come on. Man, when you turn that on, you want the
picture there. You want that sound there. We who are such hurried people need to gain God's perspective. God says to us, be patient. In James chapter 5, I'd like you to turn there. There is perhaps the most full statement about patience that can be found anywhere in the New Testament. James 5, beginning in verse 7, it says, Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil. being patient about it until
it gets the early and late rains. You too, be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged. Oh, he warns us here, don't be judgmental and negative in your attitudes. He says, don't be grumblers and gripers. Do not complain. that you may not be judged by the same standard you're setting up for others. He says, behold, the judge, the one who has the right
to judge, is standing at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Long -suffering. And why should we be long -suffering? Because our Lord is. Our Lord was patient in the days of Noah. A hundred and twenty years he was long suffering with that generation as the ark was being prepared. And then the patience of God ended and the flood came and destroyed the earth. And God today is patient. There is
an end to this age. Things are not always going to continue as they are going on now. There is a day when God's patience will be over, but Peter tells us that right now God is patient and that his patience means salvation. God is patient. He is long -suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It is just my opinion, and it's worth only that.
But I believe just as God was patient in that day and delayed the coming of the flood, so the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ has been delayed in the purpose of God in this age. James tells us that the judge stands right at the door. I spent two and a half weeks of my life in a courtroom this last winter. I don't regret that. I learned some things there. One of the things I observed is what this verse talks about and how it applies
at least to today. In the morning when we got there and then after every recess, we would be in the courtroom, we and the jury. Then there would be the prosecutor here, the witnesses back here. There was the defense attorney plus the defendant, the bailiff. The court clerk, everybody was there except the judge. The court clerk would wait until we were all assembled, and then he would pound the gavel, and he would announce the district court of Ramsey County was now in
session, judge so -and -so presiding. And immediately, court was in session. Now this is what James is saying. Right now, everybody's getting in place. All that is waiting is for the judge to be announced and for him to come marching in and to take his seat at his place of judgment. That's why you and I are exhorted to be long -suffering. We are not to retaliate. We are not to take vengeance. The Lord is the judge. We are to express long -suffering and patience just
as he did in his earthly life. This kind of patience is the ability to hang in there when it's tough. And to hang in there with the right heart attitude. But how do we deal with this? With this command of God when it's so contrary to the nature of most of us? For we by nature are impulsive, not patient. We are reactionary, not long -tempered. We are unwilling to wait, not long suffering. I believe there's only one way for us to deal
with it. And that is for us to bring that short -tempered, reactionary, impulsive human nature to the cross of Jesus Christ. And there to allow it to be put to death. It is true that the fruit of the Spirit is, among other things, patience. But my friend, the fruit of the Spirit is not going to be evidenced in our life until first we have dealt with that carnal nature that is
everything but patient. We need to come to the cross and there to see our self with a capital S. put to death so that then the resurrection life of Jesus, which is patient, may be expressed in our lives. I am speaking today to some people who have tempted the patience of God. God has been dealing with you. Maybe it's that you've never trusted Christ. God has been wooing you, but you have been pushing God away. You've said, God, not today, some other time. Some more convenient
period in my life. Right now, I want to do this. And the Lord patiently has been wooing you to himself, calling you. And I was speaking to some children of God. who have been saying to your Lord, Lord, I don't want to do that. I want to do it my way. Jesus is saying today, please, let's do it my way. My will, not yours. And patiently, he's been talking with you. Will you today let him have his way? God's patience does have an end. But thank God he is long -suffering. Please,
respond to his patience today. As Paul said to the Romans and to us, do you not know that the patience of God leads you to repentance? Let's bow together. With our heads bowed, our eyes closed, what is that area of life where you're struggling with God today? Can you not look back and see the patience which the Lord has had with you, my friend? Will you let him have his way
today? Will you receive him as your Savior? Will you on this Palm Sunday, just as he presented himself to Israel to be their king 2 ,000 years ago, will you today on this Palm Sunday say, Lord, I receive you. Hosanna to you. You take the highest place in my life. Will you put self with a capital S on the cross and die to it? Will you die to your impatience? Will you die to your impulsiveness and ask the Holy Spirit today to make you a patient man, a patient woman,
a patient child, parent? Lord, I pray that you, by your Spirit, will work deeply into our lives this quality. so that we may walk worthy of our calling. And I pray that we will be able to stand at the cross today and gladly allow ourself to be put to death so that the resurrection life of our Savior may be seen. Amen.