The Lord's Patience On The Guilty

I. EXORDIUM:

Is the LORD good to you?

Yes. Always and forever.

Psalms 16:2 (Amplified Bible)

I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside or beyond You.

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers/unbelievers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that the LORD JESUS is slow to anger, forgives the repentant and punishes the guilty.

IV. TEXT:

Numbers 14:18 (Amplified Bible)

The Lord is long-suffering and slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and loving-kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation.

V. THESIS:

Praise, worship, glorify, adore, bless, honor, acknowledge and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You are good and upright, slow to anger, long-suffering, with great mercy and the Great Mercy Himself Personified for You alone will instruct the sinners even in their darkest moment.

Psalms 25:8 (Amplified Bible)

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore will He instruct sinners in [His] way.

VI. TITLE:

The LORDs patience on the guilty

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Name : derived from the numberings of Israel

B. Author: Moses (commonly accepted)

C. Date written: 1446 - 1410 B.C.

D. Purpose: To relate the discipline of the wilderness generation, delivered from Egypt, and its purging, in order to prepare its children for a victorious entrance into The Promised Land.—Thompson Chain - Bible Book Outlines

E. To whom written: children of Israel

F. Main Theme: Unbelief bars the entrance to abundant life, Hebrews 3:7-19 — Thompson Chain - Bible Book Outlines

G. Key word: wilderness

H. Key verses: Numbers 14:20-23 (Amplified Bible)

14:20 And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word.

14:21 But truly as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,

14:22 Because all those men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tested and proved Me these ten times and have not heeded My voice,

14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; nor shall any who provoked (spurned, despised) Me see it.

VIII. MAIN BODY:

Numbers 14:18 (Amplified Bible)

The Lord is long-suffering and slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and loving-kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation.

Numbers 14:18 (New International Version)

'The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'

A. The LORD's Patience

"The Lord is long-suffering and slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and loving-kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression;"

The LORD's Patience is described as:

1. The LORD is long-suffering

2. The LORD is slow to anger

3. The LORD is abundant in mercy and loving-kindness

4. The LORD is forgiving iniquity and transgression

Explanation:

1. The LORD is long-suffering

Long-suffering (w/ or w/o hyphen) means Bearing injuries or provocation for a long time; patient; not easily provoked. Long endurance; patience of offense. (defined by Webster's dictionary)

Romans 2:4 (Amplified Bible)

Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

2. The LORD is slow to anger

Slow to anger, great mercy or "chesed" in Hebrew meaning: kindness, piety, mercy, merciful.

Psalms 145:8 (Amplified Bible)

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness.

3. The LORD is abundant in mercy and loving-kindness

Loving-kindness means Tender regard; mercy; favor. (defined by Webster's dictionary)

Titus 3:4 (Amplified Bible)

But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior to man [as man] appeared,

2 Corinthians 12:9 (Amplified Bible)

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

We can't understand GOD but the LORD JESUS CHRIST more than helped us (infinitely) understand GOD and being full of loving-kindness, we can always trace it back to the LORD JESUS CHRIST. If we try to understand GOD, our finite mind will explode understanding the Infinite One, however, the LORD JESUS CHRIST laid it down for us to understand GOD in His Great Mercies and Loving-Kindness.