A Study About Elders - Patient
Words Of Truth

Words Of Truth


"That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth..." (Proverbs 22:21).

A Study About Elders
Patient


I. Introduction:

A. As we enter into this lesson it is important to remember that the Lord’s thinking process is not in line with the world’s thinking (Isaiah 55:7-9 and I Corinthians 3:18-19).

  1. For example, Jesus was meek (Matthew 11:28-30).
  2. Meekness is often confused for weakness by worldly people, but our Lord was nothing of the sort (Mark 11:12-17).
B. As we think through this lesson, we must also be cautious with the word we will look at. When we see the word “patience” in the New Testament (KJV) it very often means “endurance” or something likened to that (i.e. Luke 8:15, Romans 2:7, Romans 5:3, etc.)

  1. Patience, in the sense of endurance, is necessary to be saved (Hebrews 10:35-39).
  2. Today however, we are not talking about “patience”, but “patient” and the meaning is different in this case. We have to be careful to notice that difference in this study (II Timothy 2:14-18).

II. Body: Patient (I Timothy 3:3).

A. The word translated “patient” that we are talking about is defined as: “appropriate, i.e. (by implication) mild: — gentle, moderation, patient” (Strong’s # 1933).

  1. It is translated “gentle” in Titus 3:2, James 3:17, and I Peter 2:18.
  2. It is translated as “moderation” in Philippians 4:5 and that verse shows this is visible conduct.
B. Let’s consider gentleness for a moment (Galatians 5:22-23).

  1. The word “gentleness” in Galatians 5:22 is translated “kindness” in Titus 3:4.
  2. All Christians are expected to be kind when appropriate (Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:12).
  3. In Christ we see gentleness (II Corinthians 10:1).
  4. The gentleness of a man does not exclude times wherein gentleness is not appropriate (Matthew 12:33-37, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 17:14-21, Matthew 23:1-33, Mark 3:1-6, and Mark 8:31-33).
C. Let’s come back to Titus 3:2 where this word is translated “gentle” and the points of the verse intertwine…

  1. Men that do not speak evil of others [defame; slander] (Ephesians 4:31 and James 4:11).
  2. Not brawlers (I Timothy 3:3).
  3. Showing meekness (Galatians 6:1-2, Ephesians 4:1-3, and I Timothy 6:11).

III. Conclusion: For a man to be qualified to be an elder he must be mild, gentle, patient in his behavior at appropriate times. This caring behavior should be visible and does not exclude corrective, etc. (i.e. I Thessalonians 2:1-12).