Patiently Endured
Category: Faith & Trusting God
Key Passage: Hebrews 6:13-15
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 7, 2024
I got a little fear. We’re a little down this morning as far as people in the auditorium here and whatnot, and you’re getting quieter than usual. We can’t lose our amen a little bit. All right. Now, we’ve got to have a little shout in there. Got to have that. If not, brother, there you go. There you go. I was going to say somebody’s going to fall asleep. I wouldn’t mention any names like Bill Bump or anything like that. I wouldn’t do that. Amen. Amen. How about this side? Do you have amen over here on this side?
Oh, I like that. I like that. Brother Anthony, he’s sick and he still got it in there. Now, he turns white after he does it, but, you know, he can still say it. There you go. But amen, amen.
Hebrews chapter number six. And something special about Sunday. I’m just thrilled to see people come in and doing their best to be faithful to God’s house no matter what.
And I understand trying to get the people online. I understand some of you can’t, but glad for those that can and those that are joining us online. Hebrews chapter number six. And we’re going to start verse number 13, Hebrews 6 and verse number 13 there of God’s Word. Would you please stand as we read God’s Word together? And you heard, many of you’ve been around here, don’t spoil my joke, okay? You’ve heard this before, but you heard about the husband and wife where we’re arguing about who is supposed to get up and make coffee in the morning.
And the man said, well, you know, you’re in charge of the kitchen. You’re supposed to make it and all those things in the kitchen. And the lady said, it’s in the Bible. You’re supposed to make the coffee. And he said, Bible? Where in the world did you get that in the Bible? She said, I saw it. It was on the top of a couple pages that says, “He brews.” That’s biblical right there now, you know. You’re a little slow this morning, you know. Snow’s got you slowed up there, you know.
And ladies, you got something on him now. Hebrews, there it is, right there in the Bible. Hebrews chapter number six and verse number 13 of God’s word. Hebrews 6:13. If you’re there, would you say amen? Amen. Good deal.
And the Bible says, “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself.” But I like that. There’s no greater than that. By the way, it’s even greater than seeing in, amen, Bill Gates and all of them. And by no greater, amen, Brother Kevin’s on board already, amen. God have gone.
Verse number 14 saying, “Surely blessing, I will bless thee. And multiplying, I will multiply thee.” Let me just pause for a minute there.
First time he said that was in Genesis chapter number 12. It’s often called the Abrahamic covenant. And then later on, after he tested Abraham about offering up his son Isaac, he reiterated it, but he added to it. And so he’s speaking to that promise there that he promised to Abraham. And he said, “I’ll make you a great nation. And out of you, all the families of the earth will be blessed,” of course, from that nation, Israel, Jesus came. Speaking of that covenant, that promises what he’s speaking of.
Now notice verse number 15, it’s our text verse for this morning. I felt like the Lord just had us focus on this, and I pray to be an encouragement to you. And so after he, that’s Abraham, had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Would you read that verse 15 out loud with me please? Would you do that? Here we go. “So after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.”
Now, many of you heard this story, some of you have not, but 28 plus years ago, I was a single young man walking down the bottom hallway of the Bible college I was at. And I was praying. I was frustrated. It was, oh, I don’t know if mad would be—I was just frustrated. And I was carrying my books, my Bible, my books, what not, about a month before I graduated Bible college, and this is what I was praying inside. I said, “Lord, I’ve worked hard for five years. And I’m about to graduate, and I’m not going to go anywhere in the ministry because I’m not married.” Now, I’m not saying it’s a sin, but for me, I didn’t feel like God wanted me to go out in the ministry being single. Enough problems, much less being single.
And I was frustrated. I said, “Lord, I’ve worked hard, paid my way through and all that stuff. And I’m not going anywhere because I’m not married.” And I said, “Lord, you need to show me who my wife is right now.” Now, as soon as I said that, that lady right there turned the corner. And she said, “Hi, Paul.” And I said, “That, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that.” And my heart [reaction]. And about a year later, we’re married.
Now, many of you heard that story before, but can I give you a little background on that story? All right, the pre-that moment. Let me explain a little bit. Every young preacher, single preacher boy that goes to Bible college, yes, he’s going to learn the Bible, yes, yes. And yes, he’s going to get educated to be able to be used by God a little bit more and all that. But in the back of his mind, he’s looking for a godly, pretty girl. Amen. I mean, that’s part of it. In fact, in the Bible college I went to, they would sing songs about if you don’t leave with a husband, you don’t leave at all, and so on and so. Now, that was for the girls, amen, all right, now, you know. But it’s just, you’ve heard, you’ve heard, how many of you heard the MRS degree? Come on now, you’ve heard that, yeah. And all, that’s, that’s part of it. And, and of course, of course, it was in the back of my mind. I mean, I was looking for my rib, amen. I mean, I needed that prime rib. Where’s that, you know, where’s my rib at, you know? And I was looking like everybody else.
And so I, my freshman year, I was, you know, what we say in Tennessee, I was scared to death, you know. I mean, I didn’t have many dates. I went out a little bit, but not much. But my sophomore year, I came back. I had a little bit, not so much work, and I had a little help financially my sophomore year. And I got a close job, and I had a little trade and all that stuff. So I said, “Man, I can date a lot more this year.” That was in the back of my mind. Man, I’m not so busy. You can go to college, not working 40 hours that year. And so I can date more. And so praise the Lord. The second year, the fear was gone. Amen. I mean, I had notes of every girl in college. I mean, no, I didn’t do that. Too large of a college. By the way, I got to be careful, my wife is in here this morning. I mean, whew, I’m about to get in trouble. Come on now. Need to leave it alone, you know. But I dated a fair amount my sophomore year.
Now, let me explain it specifically for a young fool. It has nothing to do with me explaining about my wife being here. But the college I went to, friend, you didn’t look at the girl too long without getting in trouble. You understand? There was no physical contact at all. And praise the Lord for that. Amen. I’m very thankful for that. And so it was dating under very, very strict rules was there. Amen. And…
But I dated a fair amount my sophomore year, and in my junior year, I thought, well, I still don’t have my rib. So we need to turn the volume up, you know. I mean, if, you know, they only had two eyes, there’s their potential date, you know, I mean. And I dated a fair amount. And the whole time I’m praying.
And you know, here’s the thing. Help me out here. Isn’t it always the hard part is if you start dating and you, you know, you don’t think they’re the one or they don’t think you’re the one? Some are the long line. You’ve got to break that thing up and that’s never good. Anybody know them to talk about? I mean, just not pleasant business right there. I mean, you know. And that was beginning to become my status quo. I mean, and but I was frustrated.
And the whole time I’m praying, “Lord, Lord, need to find the right one.” And then you meet these guys in the dorms. Brother Bruce Burkett was one of those guys, and praise the Lord for it. He dated his wife now very early in college and he pretty much knew she was the one. They did a great thing of pacing himself out over college. And many of you know he came here and then they got married a little bit later on, but he did wonderful. But there was guys like that that they knew that’s the one I’m going to marry or they knew I’m going to marry this person, this person. And I’m thinking, “I ain’t got no idea. I ain’t got no clue.”
And so I thought, well, I’m so busy for the most part, I was working 40 hours a week, going to college, what not. So my last year, I said, “Well, I’m just going to, I’m going to take a smaller amount of credits, and I’m going to drag my last year out in two years because I need to find my wife.” You understand? Is that necessary? Come on now, you know. Fellas, you can say, amen, she’ll like that, all right, now, you know. And you score some points there, you know. And so I literally dragged my last year out in two years. And the whole time I’m praying, “Lord, you know.”
And you start dating someone, and if you don’t marry him, somewhere along the lives, got to break up, and that’s never good. And I remember one girl, she went to her counselor, and he’d said, “Well, Paul’s got issues.” You can say amen right there, I do, I’ll agree with it. And he said, “He just can’t commit to anybody.” So I was getting a complex by that point. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I can’t commit, you know. What is wrong with me?
And I’m nearing the end of five years now and praying. And this is how bad it was, all right. This is what a sad situation I was in. I was to the point, I was telling the Lord, “Now, Lord, it’s going to kill me if you want me to be single. I think I’ll die. But all right, Lord, if you want me to be single, I’ll be single.” That’s where I was. And I was trying to be sincere in it, the best I could. And I was about a month before graduation. And I prayed, I don’t know, I’m sure it seemed like at least, probably should have prayed more about lost souls, but I was praying for a wife, amen, you know. And it must have been a list of a million times. I had prayed about that. And it just kind of all culminated, if you will, in that moment.
And in that moment, yes, when I tell that story, I often try to put in there, God very seldom answers my prayers immediately. And it sounds like he answered my prayer immediately. “Lord, you need to show me who my wife is right now.” And he did. But there was that time of patiently enduring. And more often than not, friend, I very seldom, very seldom have ever get my prayers answered, boom. More often than not, usually, specifically on big prayers, more often than not, there’s that time of patiently enduring.
Now, isn’t it interesting the word God uses there when he says, in that verse number 15, would you look at it again, please, Hebrews 6:15, when he says, “And so after he had patiently,” what’s the next word? How many out there like to wait on something? It’s enduring. It’s no fun. Nobody likes to wait. You know, the worst part of medical tests, half the time the medical test works than the sickness. And I won’t say amen right there. But then after you get the test, then there’s the waiting period. That’s always the hard part. And friend, there’s that aspect of the Christian life. And so after he patiently endured.
Now, let me feel it, many of you already know, I’m sure, but Abraham, God came to Abraham and said, “Now, Abraham, I’m going to make you a great nation.” And by the way, that Abrahamic covenant is still true when he said, “I’ll bless them that bless you,” that’s speaking of Israel today, “and I’ll curse him that curseth you.” By the way, did you notice a difference? I have time to go over the Galatians, excuse me, Genesis 12, but he says, “I’ll bless them that bless you, and I’ll curse him that curse you.” By the way, you can claim that when a president or someone is not good to Israel, “Lord, you said you’ll curse him.” Amen. By the Lord of King James Bible is very important, every word matters of the Word of God. And I’ll curse him that curseth thee.
But whole Abraham and covenant, God gave to Abraham. And now here’s the thing. Abraham and Sarah, they couldn’t have a child. Sarai it was at the time; she was barren. There was, I’m not sure what kind of medical issues there was, but she couldn’t have a child. And God had promised, “Now, wait a second, I’m going to give you this seed, and it’s going to be multitudes, and many nations come from Abraham,” and yet Abraham and Sarah couldn’t have a child.
In fact, during that time of patiently enduring, can I say they did not do perfectly in it? There was a time when Abraham said, “Hey, Lord, I know your promise. You said we’re going to have, you know, many, many nations and her seed and out of us, every nation, every family is going to be blessed. I understand the covenant, Lord, but we ain’t got no children down here. So I’ll tell you what, God. I’ve got this elder servant. He’s my head servant. He’s a good guy, Eleazar. And boy, Lord, he’s top-notch. Lord, if you’d like to, you could just kind of shift your promise a little bit instead of it coming through me. You can go ahead and let that promise come through my head servant, Ilyazar. He’s in my household, and he’s under my care and under my family provision. And so we could go ahead and count him part of my family. And so, Lord, hey, Lord, you can go ahead and just let that promise, since it’s kind of difficult for you to do it through me and Sarah, because we can’t have any kids, Lord. So you can go ahead and do that through Ilyazar.” And God said, “No, Abraham. I said what I meant and meant what I said.”
Now, there’s that patiently enduring. How many have you ever messed up when you’re patiently enduring for God to answer a prayer? Well, I know I have. Not only that, but a little while later on, Sarah, she says, “Hey, Abraham, I got a plan.” Hey, man, this is a good plan, man. I tell you what, you thought about your, you know, your eldest servant, but, you know, that wasn’t, he wasn’t the one. That’s not God’s plan here. But I’ve got a servant. I’ve got a handmaid. And she’s a good girl. And I tell you what, you could even go and marry her. And her name’s Hagar. She’ll do you good, Abraham. Won’t you go ahead and you marry this woman, this handmaid of mine? And it’s still under my old command, if you will, our provision, our family. You go ahead and you marry her. And that will be how the seed comes. And you go ahead and marry Hagar."
So Abraham says, “All right, we’ll give it a shot.” Maybe even, we don’t know all the words, but maybe even Abraham said, “Well, the Lord can stop it if he wants to.” You know, God gives us a free will or free choice. And God said, “Adam, the name, then you name it. That’s going to be the name thereof.” Those choices take.
And so Abraham married that handmaid, Hagar. Abraham and Hagar did have a son. His name, help me out, is what? Ishmael. By the way, from that race, we get so many of the Muslim countries around Israel that have been trying to wipe Israel off the map for years. By the way, the… No peace in the Middle East for all these hundreds, thousands of years linked back to that time when he backslid during that patiently enduring. And God said, “Hey, Abraham, no, no, no, no, no. What I said, I meant, and I meant what I said for you and Sarah.”
Friend, think about all those years. And then he failed in the middle of it more than once. And think about the devil condemning him. And what happens when you and I mess up? You know what happens? Our own heart condemns us. First John 3 talks about that. “God will never use you now. God can never do anything through you now. I mean, you’ve done messed up too many times.” I’m sure Abraham had that happen.
Friend, after all those years, God had promised and went to the Eleazar situation, and to the Hagar and Ishmael. And then, a little while after that, when Ishmael gets up around 14 or so, I believe, if I remember right, Sarah and her handmaid, they have a, they have a dispute. And I’m sure if you told your husband to marry another girl and he does marry that other girl and they have a baby and you’ve been wanting to have a baby all those years, there’s going to be some emotional issues. You understand what I’m saying? And there was. And the family splits. I’m talking about all those years.
It was somewhere around 25 years later. They were well past the point of having children. Sarah, when she finally had that baby, Sarah was 90 years old. How many of your ladies would like to be a 90-year-old lady in delivering a child? Anybody out there like that? I don’t think so. Abraham’s 100 years old. I’m talking about it was past, humanly speaking, past the possibility of that promise being fulfilled. Maybe you said, “There’s no way my uncle’s going to get saved. The guy’s so hard. You mention Jesus Christ, he gets mad, he gets—there’s no way he’ll—no way my neighbor will ever get saved. No way God can work in that situation,” and it works. That’s where Abraham and Sarah was. 25 years.
And finally, Isaac comes along. Can you imagine the joy when that son was born, Isaac? And can I say this? And I don’t want to belabor the point. Most of you know the story. But can I even say that? Isaac didn’t get married for years and years and years. And I imagine they had to patiently endure there. Well, when in the world is Isaac going to get married? How can we have this multitudes of people in a nation if Isaac, our son, doesn’t get married? I mean, you’re talking about years of waiting. Isaac got married when he was 40 years old. I think I had it bad when I got married at 23, 24. I mean, but Isaac’s 40. And they had patiently endured.
And then Isaac and Rebecca didn’t have a child until Isaac was 60 years old. How many of you parents, you’re wanting a grandchild? I know of it. I was thinking about Chip and Tammy. We can raise your hand because Patrick and Marlene are out of town right now. You know, we’re all right right there, you know. But can you imagine Abraham said, “All right, my son finally got married, but where’s the grandchildren now? How are we ever going to have this promise of no grandchildren?” And I’m talking about all those years, all those years, Abraham was 160 years old before Isaac and Rebecca had a child. He died was 175. It’s only 15 years.
Friend, I’m just saying there’s the simplest. It’s always that patiently enduring. Whatever the situation is. Maybe you say, “I would like my finances,” “I’m praying God, do something to find my marriage,” whatever it be. There’s that time period of patiently. It’s enduring. It’s no fun. I’m not going to say it’s just wonderful. Nobody likes to wait.
We went when our kids were here for Christmas time and John McKinn and Ryan and Sarah and all of us went up to it. We went up to Opera Mills, the motel, and we wanted to eat before. Oh, I can’t remember if it was after Christmas or before. I’m not running there somewhere. Christmas time. And so went up there and there’s a restaurant, I won’t say the name, but there’s a restaurant fairly close there. First of all, we’re going to go to the mall, the food court. And man, I’m talking about you couldn’t find a parking spot in the Mall, Upper Mills Mall. It was just packed out. We quickly wrote that off there, you know. So there was a restaurant over here. It’s pretty reasonable. We’ll go to this restaurant. It’s a family-style restaurant. We’ll go over there. We went in there, and praise the Lord, not many people there. We can get in here real quick, you know. And so we went in there with the only problem, they only had two cooks. And we went back and asked the lady to put her name in real quick. How long would it be? Fifty-minute wait just to be seated.
And I looked around, I thought, well, there’s tables open in there, you know. And the lady standing there, she had called in her order. And her own line she had ordered. And I said, “How long have you been waiting?” And she had been waiting for 45 minutes just for her food. And the lady said, “Sir, it’s not a matter of tables, it’s a matter. We don’t have, cooks aren’t showing up. We’re short cooks.” And you know what I said? “Fifty minutes?” Hey, we’ll see you later, friend. I’m going elsewhere.
And family stayed there. I said, “I can’t wait, man. I’ll go over here to this restaurant. I find a quicker one.” I’m going to call you. And praise the Lord, I went to a restaurant and got seated right away. Somebody say amen right there. Amen, you know, that’s a good thing. And call them up and say, “Come on over. We can get in right away here.” And we did. And I hate to wait. But that’s part of it. If you’re going to have big answers, if you’re going to obtain the promises, almost always there’s a waiting. After he had patiently endured, friend, that’s just part of it. I don’t like it. I wish I could give you some formula where you can go around and bypass it, but friend, that’s just more often than not. If God’s going to give you some great promises, you’re going to obtain those promises, you’re going to have to patiently endure.
You say, “Well, preacher, what do I do? What do I do during that waiting time, that patient?” How can I handle that? How many out there say, “I’m an impatient person?” Anybody honest out there? Anybody out there, you hate to wait? I mean, I’m there. I try to get God to work on my timetable about a million times. He’s not did it one time yet, friend, you know. In his time, what do you do during that time? Would you look back at that verse one more time here? And I think we’re going to be short, trying to be short this morning. Look back at it. Hebrews 6:15. “And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the,” what’s the next word? Promise. Promise.
Would you look over, the Bible describes this saying in another place? Would you look over in Romans chapter number four. Romans chapter number four. And we’ll look at the same situation, but the Bible describes it in a different place here. And I want you to see the same thing there. Romans 4. And we’ll look at verse number 18, please. Romans 4 and verse number 18. Romans 4 verse number 18. When you’re there, would you say, amen?
Romans 4, verse number 18, the Bible says, “Who against,” speaking of Abraham here, “who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, watch this, here it is, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be.” Now, did you notice that was spoken to Abraham? Did you notice over in Hebrews 6:15? That was promised.
Now here’s the thing. When you’re patiently enduring, nobody likes that. But during that time, you keep your eyes on the promise. You keep your eyes on what was spoken, what the Lord has promised to you. Friend, when I say this thing, “promised,” we don’t have the spoken word in our day and time. We have the written word. That was spoken by God’s—God’s word. I’m saying, friend, while you’re patiently enduring, get your eyes on the Bible. Get some of the promises of God. Some of them are so common. I think some of the promises that are so common that people look at very often. I think of maybe the most popular one. Is this promise, Romans 8:28? How many know that promise? Raise your hand if you know that promise. It’s a wonderful promise. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” Now that is a wonderful promise to keep your eyes on maybe during a difficult time when you’re enduring.
I think of Brother Fontaine. His favorite verse to claim when it came to prayer was Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Now that’s a great promise to get your eyes on while you’re patiently enduring. Common promises: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Wonderful promise, Matthew 7:7. That next verse, wonderful.
But these are common and they’re wonderful, wonderful, just promises God’s given you to keep your eyes on while you’re patiently enduring. And then can I say this, sometimes God leads very specifically and it gives you just a special promise. These common ones are wonderful. Don’t ever think, “Well, it’s been claimed too much by too many people.” Oh, the Bible has never been claimed too much. Someone mentioned another day, Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” A wonderful promise to keep your eyes on.
But sometimes God leads in unique ways and he leads you to a specific promise. My wife has a friend. It’s been years since we’ve seen her, but she had just seen or read or watched a video of hers on Facebook. She’s a pastor’s wife today. But she was a young lady, I think 22. She was lost, never read her Bible, and been associated with the Catholic Church, but didn’t know anything about the Bible or anything. And her husband at the time, in the middle of the night, literally, the way the story goes, in the middle of the night, she had a knock on the door. And a man comes to the door, says, “Ma’am, I don’t know who or what, but I think I’ve just ran over an individual. And would you come with me? I’m just afraid to look.”
And she went out with the man literally, and they shined a light underneath the car. And that was her husband. And he had been shot and then ran over. And her world was turned upside down. And he was military, special forces. And so her mom and her mother-in-law came, is, “Hey, we’re going to have a big military funeral, what not.” And she was just distraught. And she just couldn’t function. She was so discouraged and despair. And she just, she couldn’t handle it. And she had never read her Bible, but she had a Bible. Praise the Lord, her husband was saved, everything we know about it.
And so she knew of a Bible in the bedroom and she went, she got that Bible, and she opened the Bible up. She didn’t know anything about the Bible. She saw, “Well, that’s weird. They got columns in there. I mean, there’s a column on the left, and there’s a little bit of column in the middle.” You know what? She never read the Bible. She didn’t know anything about the Bible, where to turn to or anything. And yet she opened over there in the book of Timothy where it talks about widows marrying. And she thought, “Wow, that is God. How in the world could I open this thousand and so pages? And I just opened this thing where he’s talking to a widow and about how you can marry him.” She said, “God is literally talking to me through that book. That’s God.” I mean, this is a miracle here.
And she knew enough. She knew enough of the gospel at that moment. She said, “God, I know you’re real. I know the Bible’s real. And I’m going to spend my life living for you.” She said, “In that moment, I got saved.” She’s a pastor’s wife, has been for years now. But friend, here’s the thing I tell that story to tell you this. God led her so specifically just to a promise, a verse in his word. And while you’re patiently enduring, it is so important, I just say, “Lord, I need a promise. I need you to guide me.”
Friend, you must be in the Bible. Those sailors back in the day before all of modern equipment, they would look to the stars to help steer their ships across the oceans. And, friend, you must look to the stars, the promises of God’s word. “Lord, I need a promise from your word.” And God is always able to give you something. Instead of you getting mad and frustrated and discouraged and giving up, you ought to be in the Word of God saying, “God, give me a promise to hang on to.” You must during those times, “Lord, I need something from you.”
It’s amazing when I get sincere and I stop playing games and I’m going through a ritual, I need something from God’s word and I’m humbling myself and seeking. It’s amazing how God can give me just the promise I need for that instance, that moment in my life. How do you make it through the patiently enduring the promise? Abraham said he spoke it. “I’m going to have hope against hope because he promised it to me.”
But what a shame when I’m not in the word. And I’m just going through a ritual. And I’m not looking for promises. Friend, you ought to read that book. That book’s to you. It’s God speaking to you. It’d be wonderful. Maybe a young person say that Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” I’m going to claim that one. Yes, there’s more to it. He gives you whatever you want. He changes your owner, then he gives you what you want. When I’m talking about somebody here today, ought to say, “Lord, I need a promise.” And you keep your eyes on those promises while you’re patiently enduring. Nobody likes that, but it’s part of it.
How many have ever saw my dog Dixie? You know her dog Dixie? We got a little bitty, foo-foo dog Bell, you know, inside. Then we got our bigger dog. Dixie is half lab and half Great Dane. She’s white, and she’s about three years old, and she’s still got puppy in her. And…
You know, you try to teach me to get a ball. I’ll throw a ball. And Dixie said, “Yeah, whatever, Dad.” You know, I ain’t interested in that ball, you know. But here’s the thing Dixie loves to do. She loves to get a hold of a rag. You know, you’re on one side. And she just, she will spend hours. I mean, I don’t have the energy to—she’ll spend hours tugging on that rag. I mean, we keep, we’ll leave some rags out. If you go to our house, it’ll look like it’s dirty. It’s all Dixie’s toys out in the front yard. I mean, she… We’ve got to clean the thing up, you know, and I don’t know where she finds up, but she’ll always have right in front yard. She’ll have a bunch of junk out there, you know. And we try to leave a rag out there for her. And it never fails. I’ll come in, you know, and you don’t want to play with that crazy dog. You’re going to go inside and get a break, you know. And she’ll bring a rag after always, and she’ll have that rag, and she’s just doing everything she can to kind of talk you and get you to grab a hold of that rag, you know. And all she wants to just grab a hold of the end of the rag, and, man, it’s on. I mean, she loves it. I mean, she’s just all about it. And she’ll start growling, you know, and she just, she’s all about it. I mean, she just loves it.
And the thing is, that crazy dog, she won’t let go of the rag. I’m like, “Dixie, all right, let’s quit,” you know, “let’s quit.” No, she ain’t going to quit. I don’t know how many rags we’ve tore through. I mean, she’ll just, once it starts ripping, it’s all, it’s—I mean, she’s not going to let go of that part of the rag, you know. Every once in a while I can trick her. If I have another rag, I can dangle that in front of her, and she’ll let go of that rag and grab that rag. That’s about the only way you can get her let go of a rag. That’s it.
And while you’re going through that patiently, it’s just enduring. That’s all you do. You just kind of endure. You get a hold of a promise and don’t let go of it. Just like Dixie, you say, friend, those promises will always—always. It may take years.
About old Joseph. Just a young buck teenage boy and his brothers lied about him and he’s sold into slavery. And then he’s over there in Potiphar’s house and he got lied about. And it ends up in prison over there in Egypt. And I’m sure when the baker and the butler came through, he thought, “Boy, that’s my ticket out of here,” but they forgot about him. The butler did for two years. And he patiently endured. It’s just about always. If you’re going to attain mighty things for God, there’s patiently enduring. An old friend, get a hold of a promise. Maybe God’s already led you to a promise, hang on to it. Maybe you need a promise. Friend, I—I beg you, I mean that—get in the book. “God, I need a promise.” That’s the thing you hang on to while you’re patiently enduring.
As there came a time when you’ve went to the Lord as far as your salvation and you’ve claimed that promise as just a boy—I don’t even know how old I was, to be honest, when I got saved. But I knew I had been taught, praise the Lord. I’ve been taught Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I knew the verse. And we were riding home from church one night. I was sitting in the back seat of the car right on the driver’s side over there. And bad part is, here’s the landmark where we were passing by the Anheuser-Busch plant. What a place, you know, to get saved. And we were passing by there. And in my heart, my little boy heart, I went to the Lord. “Now, Lord, you said you’d save me if I called. And I’m calling. You got to save me.” Now I latched on that promise. He had saved me through the blood of Jesus Christ. And praise the Lord, I obtained that promise.
A friend, if there’s never came a time in your life when you went to Jesus Christ for your salvation, today would be a great day to do it. Best day. Today is a day of salvation. It’s a wonderful thing. You say, “I believe he died on the cross, shed his blood and rose again three days later, and I want to claim that as my way to heaven, my salvation.” He’d be glad to give you that promise. Be claiming.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes this morning? Would you do so? Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Maybe you’re here this morning and you say, “Preacher, I’ve got a promise. Whatever the situation in your life, I preacher, I’ve got a promise, I need to grab a hold of it. I need like old Dixie just grab, and I’m not going to let go on. God spoke them hard. I don’t need to let go of that promise. God spoke to my heart. I need to grab a hold of it and not let go of it.” And that’s me. That’s me. I need to grab a hold of a promise and hang on to it. God spoke to my heart about that. If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand in the preacher, that’s me. Anybody like that? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Oh, can I encourage you? Hold on to it. It’ll always—God’s word will always stand the test. God bless you. Thank you so very much.
Maybe here this morning and said, “Preacher, I need a promise. I’m going to be reading and looking and praying, ‘Lord, I need a promise.’ I’m just kind of wavering. I don’t have anything to hang on to during this patiently enduring. I need something during this time.” And I’m going to go to God. “God, would you give me a promise? I’ll be reading your word and looking and hearing preaching, whatever may be. But I’m going to be trying to get in the word and hear, get a promise. God, would you give me a promise?” That’s me right there. I’m going to be looking and praying for it. That’s you this morning. Just lift your hand. That’s me. “God, I need a promise. I need a promise.” I see that. Anybody else? “I need a promise.” I’m going to be asking God, the Holy Spirit, lead me a promise. Anybody else like that? Just lift your hand.
Maybe here this morning or online, you say, “Preacher, I’ve never claimed the promise of salvation. I need to go to Jesus. I know he’s my only way. I’m a sinner. And I want to go to him. He’s promised, and I want to claim that promise. Jesus, I’m going to ask you to save me.” If that’s you, wherever you may be, I know my sinner. Well, there’s a punishment, hell. I believe Jesus died on the cross, and I want to go to Jesus. Put all my faith in him and ask him to save me. I want to claim that promise. Wherever you may be, would you tell him, “Dear Lord, forgive my sins? Would you come into my heart? Would you save me? I want to claim that promise of salvation.” Would you do so? You let him know that. If you’re online, would you click below and let us know? Here in the auditorium, would you please stand? Would you please stand? The altar is already open. Many are here. You come, if you like to. I’m going to pray. We’ll just have some music. Would you come?
Father, thank you. Thank you that we can patiently endure. Help us to keep our eyes on your promise. Bless these few minutes, Lord, in a special way, please, Father, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
As our instruments play, would you come? Would you come? Nobody likes patiently enduring, but, friend, it’s more awful than not part of it. What do you do? Keep your eyes on the promise. Keep your eyes on the promise. If you need a promise, let him know, “Lord, I’m going to be reading and looking.” Would you speak to them? Would you give me a promise? Would you let him know that? Let him know that. “Lord, I’m going to be looking. I don’t want to go through a ritual, Lord. I’m sincere about this thing. I don’t want to just read and check off a little check. I want to get something. I need a promise, Lord.” Young people have a great time when you’re young to start living your life by the promises of God. It’s always a blessing to speak to an older person that has spent their life living by the promises, and they don’t regret it.
And after he had patiently, patiently endured, he obtained the promise. I hope that sticks with us. And I hope you get a promise out of that verse right there. There’s a wonderful verse. Glad you’re here this morning now.
Original File: Patiently Endured - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday AM 1922