Section 10
to the nearness of the Lord's coming. Neverthe less, according to experience, not according to doctrine, I would say that this word refers to the Lord's presence with us today. It also strength ens Paul's exhortation that we make our forbear ance known to all men. Because the Lord is near, we have no excuse for not making known our forbearance. Often we fail to exercise forbear ance because we forget that the Lord is near. We do not even remember that He is actually within us. When a brother's wife serves him a cold drink instead of a hot one, will he care for the drink or for the Lord? If he cares about the drink instead of the Lord, then in his experience only the drink will be at hand, for the Lord will be far away. Because we do not realize that the Lord is near, we do not exercise forbearance. Instead, we are strict in dealing with others and make exacting demands of them without con sidering their situation. The more we realize the nearness of the Lord, the more satisfied we shall be and the more we shall be considerate of oth ers and sweetly reasonable regarding their situa tion. If we realize that the Lord is near, we shall turn from the old creation to the new creation, to the out-resurrection, which is expressed as forbearance.