PERFECT IN PATIENCE

 

PERFECT IN PATIENCE - AUDIO LINK

In the account of King Robert the Bruce hiding in the cave with his trusted Bravehearts, we read of how something caught his attention, which resulted in him to obtain hope for the battles ahead.  There in the darkness sitting and waiting for who knows what, he saw a spider at the entrance of the cave.  Spinning its web, trying desperately to reach the other side of the cave in order to secure its web.  This spider failed hopelessly over and over.  King Robert the Bruce was fascinated with the patience of this spider to just never give up.  He was so impressed with the spider’s tenacity that he vowed that should the spider succeed in his mission, he would exit the cave with his men and win the freedom of Scotland.  At this time he had succumbed to so many defeats that he was about to give up for good, but the spider prevailed and King Robert the Bruce was filled with hope and left his cave of doubt.  

Romans 5: 2 - 4

² By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

³ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

We see in this scripture a pattern or a formula if you will.  Tribulation, patience, experience and then hope.    No tribulation, no patience.  No patience, no hope.  And lastly no glory.  However, it is actually more than a formula, it is a principal of the Kingdom of God.  The word tribulation is in the Strong’s Concordance G2347, and it means pressing, pressure, oppression, affliction, distress, straits and anguish.  It is derived from G2345, which means to press grapes and to press hard.

Philippians 1: 29

²⁹ For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

We are not just called to believe, but also to suffer.  How many people would come forward to give their lives to the Lord God if they knew the full reality of what it means to be a Believer.  And what we read hear is that Paul says we are to glory in tribulation.  This glory means to boast and rejoice in tribulation.  Was he playing with words here?  Was he trying to be poetic or heroic, or was this coming from a man who knew firsthand what it means to suffer straits, distress and anguish constantly?  Paul is not saying, should you maybe experience tribulation, but rather you are called to suffer.  This simply means that it is inevitable.  And as workers for the time to come, Paul is saying…this is the attitude you are to have concerning your tribulations, “Boast in it!  Rejoice in it!”  In verse 9 Paul says “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  So this tribulation is not due to God’s wrath, but rather the persecution, distress and what we as workers will be brought into.  If anything, we need to be realistic about the time to come.  We will experience tribulation as His workers, but not because of His wrath, but because He will be using us during this time.  The reality is that everybody will experience this tribulation when it comes, but how we deal with it, will determine whether others will have hope.  If we are under the impression that the time to come and how He will use us will be marked with just amazing miracles and super powers, then we are in for a huge surprise.  Rather, it will be the suffering we are called to.  Yes, Father will use His workers mightily, just like the book of Acts, but it will be whilst enduring tribulation.  Not apart from it.

So Paul tells us to rejoice in this.  He brings it into full circle starting with hope and ending with hope.

From what we can gather here is that we must KNOW that tribulation will be the means by which we will gain these various helps for the time to come.  Knowing in the Strong’s Concordance is G1492 and it means to perceive, to see, discern, discover, to experience, to be skilled in, to be sure and understand. 

This definition speaks of something that we have to undoubtedly be assured of.  It cannot just be a thought, but in a way foundational, because it will affect the whole.  You cannot doubt it.  You have to see it in this light and this is exactly the disposition, the foundation that you will need in order to endure.  If you are not assured and unwavering concerning the purpose of the tribulation you will undoubtedly be in, your foundation will be shifty from the get go.  You have to know that it is not just something to endure and hope you will get through it.  You have to know and be assured that in every situation He, as your Commander and Captain of the Hosts, divinely predestined for you to be in it.  Peter was sleeping in prison so soundly that the angel had to give him a shove to wake him up.  Peter knew that his time was not yet, as we read in 1 Peter 4 that the Lord revealed to him in what manner he would die.  He was in perfect peace in prison.  Sound asleep.  At rest in the Lord God’s will wherever that may be.  Every given moment of what you will have to endure will have a purpose, just as every given moment now has a divine purpose.  You have to have the right disposition concerning your circumstances.  If you cannot even now endure the confinements of your own home, how will you endure prison?  How will you endure the emotional turmoil and horror of what is to come?  Understandably you have to even now see the grace of why you are presently experiencing light tribulation in your life.  The only reason I say light tribulation is not to make light of your circumstances, but to see them in the light of what is to come.  We have to adjust our disposition, the way we think of our tribulations.  We cannot see ourselves as victims whilst proclaiming we are more than conquerors.  If we see ourselves as victims to society and our own personal struggles, we will inevitably work against His purposes.  When you see yourself as more than a conqueror, you are working with Him in humble surrender to His divine plan, even if it means to suffer.  You will be progressive, focused and have understanding of the purpose in it all.  This is a critical first step for now, but also for the time to come.  We have to ready ourselves.

Not one second of Yeshua’s life was without purpose.  Every insult, every accusation, every hardship He had to endure before the cross, prepared Him for the nails, the lashes, the thorns and His death.  Hebrews 5: 8 says that though He was a Son, He learned obedience by what He suffered.  Without any doubt He gloried in His tribulation for in it He obtained patience, experience and hope.  The soldiers that hit those nails into His feet and hands were allowed by the Father.  The thorn of suffering on His head, by the Father, the lashes on His back, by the Father.  In fact Isaiah 53 says that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him and to make him sick.  Yeshua said that nobody takes His life from Him, but the Father gave him commandment and He willingly lays His life down (John 10).  In Psalm 40 David as the type and shadow of our King says, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me.  Thy law is written on my heart, I delight to do Thy will.  And then later Yeshua says the same, but says, a body Thou hast prepared for me to do Thy will.  It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.  What a profound statement.  Can we say the same about our own lives?  Can we look on the bruising He allows and not be offended?  As Yeshua said to the disciples of John to say to him, "Blessed is he who is not offended in Me."  Are you now offended by His bruising of your life?  Are you then not the Body the Father has prepared to do His will?

Paul is saying that tribulation works in us, that is to say it prepares us and renders us fit for the Lord’s use.  We are to see our tribulation as a season, a time that has a specific purpose and learn whatever we need from it.  We have to see our present tribulations in the light of what we need to learn from them for the time to come.     

Verse 4 tells us that patience produces experience and experience hope.  Let’s look at these different words closer, especially because it is given to us as a provision for the time to come and we need to take it very seriously.  We need all the help we can get, so let us not spurn the opportunity to learn from this and the privilege.

Patience is G5281 and it means so much more than what we think.  It means to be steadfast, constant and to endure.  It says, "It is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings."

Patience is the ability that comes from a character of a man who does not easily give up even in the greatest of suffering.  Paul was such a man and therefore he could say it.

Patience worketh experience.  Experience is G1382 and it means a tried character, a specimen of tried worth.  This tried character through the process of tribulation develops the ability to endure anything, and in turn this person will have hope.  I have a picture of a warrior that have gone through so much and have that certain tenacity that is visible on his face, which can only have come through experience.  We can sit at a desk and learn about the realities of war, but there is no better teacher than war itself.  Out of these experiences the warrior does not easily give up hope.  Patience, the ability to endure and experience have taught him differently.  This hope is G1680 and it is rendered as a joyful and confident expectation.  In other words, no doubt in the greatest of trials, but rather a joyful expectation. 

The Word says in 1 Peter 3: 15 that we must sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

Why do we need to do this?  Because we will be in tribulation, hard pressed and very much under pressure.  They will want to know why you have hope when every day they wish for death in order to free themselves from this world.  Now is the time in your extremities that He is teaching you the value of your tribulation.  Now He is building your foundation to be solid, enduring and stable.  Now He is producing a character through perseverance of patience to bring you to a hope that transcends the greatest of trials and suffering.  The question is, “Do you know what He is teaching you in your present tribulation?”  Have you sat down with Him and asked Him exactly what He is teaching you for the time to come? 

Quoting Richard Wurmbrand

“My brothers and sisters, you also must believe that your lives are clay in the hands of a wonderful Sculptor. He never makes mistakes. If at times He is hard on you, it is because He sometimes has what we could call negative successes. He loses a pawn in order to win the chess game. He loses a battle in order to win a war. He causes his Son to endure suffering in order to save a world. Just trust. Don’t live on another’s messages, but discover the message for which He is molding you.” 

In Hebrews 11 we read of the cloud of witnesses that Hebrews 12 refers to and how they by faith endured so much.  In verse 13 it says that they all died not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.  Remember, the word knowing means to see, discern and perceive.  They were persuaded of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth.  This was their disposition concerning their trials and in their trials.  Richard Wurmbrandt who spent 14 torturous years in prison for his Christian faith said, “A faith that can be destroyed by suffering, is not faith.”  Harsh, but true. 

Hebrews 12 tells us that the witnesses compass us about.  This word witness is G3144 and it means to witness in a legal sense, a spectator and as a witness to us in the sense of an example set, therefore credible as to having been proven and the genuineness of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death – martyrs.  Many names are mentioned in Hebrews 11 as these credible witnesses to us, for our benefit, names like Stephen, the first martyr and those who have suffered greatly.  We are presently surrounded by them.  This makes me think of Psalm 32:7…thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.  Are these witnesses now singing songs of deliverance over us?  Just a thought. 

In all this Hebrews 12 tells us…Look unto Jesus.  He endured the cross for the sake of the joy that was set before Him.  That joy of the glory of the Father revealed through His death…resurrection life.  For when we share in His suffering, we shall also share in His glory.  This is our hope. 

Paul endured so much, and yet he was able to write these words to us that we in the time to come, in our tribulation may have hope, that we may give others hope.

2 Corinthians 11: 16 – 33

¹⁶ I say again, let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

¹⁷ That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

¹⁸ Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.

¹⁹ For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

²⁰ For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

²¹ I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

²² Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

²³ Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

²⁴ Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

²⁵ Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

²⁶ In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

²⁷ In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

²⁸ Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

³⁰ If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

³¹ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

³² In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:

³³ And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

Quite a list and one that would make him worthy to speak on the subject of our disposition to suffering and trials.

James 1: 2 – 4

² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The question is whether we believe this.  Do we believe that when our faith is tested to the uttermost that patience, which is that endurance, will cause us to be perfect, wanting nothing? 

Eric Ludy wrote on dying well, suffering joyfully, which in essence lies at the heart of how all died that went before us in that cloud of witnesses.  Whether at their final moment or in dying to self.  It speaks of the mindset of a soldier, of men and woman of valor that has the heart of the King who when He was persecuted and reviled opened not His mouth, but went as a sheep to the slaughter.  Is this why Paul in Romans 8 tell us that...

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  

I would like to read the transcript of Eric Ludy's video called “Dying Well”.

"James, an apostle of Jesus Christ, also known as James the Greater was beheaded.  But he died well, as it says in Fox’s Book of Martyrs…

As James was led to the place of martyrdom, his accuser was brought to repent of his conduct by the apostle’s extraordinary courage and undauntedness and fell down on his feet to request his pardon, professing himself a Christian.  And resolving that James should not receive the crown of martyrdom alone, hence they were both beheaded at the same time.  Thus did the first apostolic martyr cheerfully and resolutely receive that cup which he had told his Savior he was ready to drink.  This message is about dying well.  If a man is to die well, he needs something.  That something is Jesus Christ, but specifically he need something that only Jesus Christ can give.  The Bible calls it PATIENCE.  Patience is the ability to endure the most difficult circumstances that could ever be wielded against our soul, and against your body.  To remain unmoved.  To not recede or flee.  To stand fast amidst the most severe misfortune and trials and to hold fast one’s faith in Christ unto the end. To endure and bear ill treatments bravely and calmly.

HYPOMENO, which is the brave calm and steadfast courage of the Christian soul.  Anyone you have ever read about in Christian history that have died well, died in Hypomeno. It is astounding because we are so different.  We are moved by the fact that we are low in our bank account.  They were UNMOVED when they were being cut to pieces.  Do you see the distinction between them and us? Something is wrong here. It is completely different, it is triumphant, it is victorious.  It causes everyone to gape in awe and wonder and say “What do they have?” You know, we scream as we are being led to our slaughter, that is what the world does.  That is what everyone who is after the protection of their own skin and has no hope in Jesus Christ does.  Let’s show this world what we have.  And what we have comes out when the point of the spear touches us.  This is our privileged opportunity, because God has deposited it in us and it’s where we face trials. When we face suffering.  When we face persecution that this world is able to see Jesus.  This is put into practice today, not in the concentration camp.  You need this today.  Christians, who do you put your trust in?  Who is in control of your life?  Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps.  Let’s consider those who immediately followed his steps.  Stephen was stoned, Philip was crucified, Matthew was slain with the sword, James, the brother of Jesus was stoned and clubbed, Matthias was stones and beheaded, Mark was dragged to pieces, Jude was crucified, Bartholomew was cruelly beaten and then crucified, Thomas was thrust through with a spear, Luke was hung.  Simon was crucified and John was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, removed unscathed and then exiled to Patmos.  Ignatius was the disciple of John, but he was told that he was going to be fed to lions the morning.  This is what Ignatius said…

“I care for nothing of visible or invisible things so that I may but win Christ.  Let fire and the cross, the company of wild beasts, the breaking of bones and tearing of limbs, let the grinding of the whole body and the malice of the devil come upon me, be it so…only may I win Christ Jesus.  I am the wheat of Christ.  I am going to be grounded with the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread.  Such is the burning desire that he had to suffer that he declared the lions his friends.  For they were going to be the ones that would lead him into the presence of the One he loved more than anything in this natural life. 

What did they follow?  They followed in the pattern of suffering.  Is that our response? When we are issued a difficulty, when a trial comes our way, what is our response? Because if we are not showcasing that joy that comes forth from when the spear touches our side, when the suffering hits us, what hope can we give?  It is meant to be a rejoicing that comes out of us.  To die is gain.  Don’t we realize that?  This is our opportunity.  There is something good that is taking place.  However, it is not up to you to define when you do die, so even though to die is gain, to live is Christ.  You have everything you need for life and godliness in Jesus Christ.  You have everything in Jesus and it does not matter your circumstances, whether you are in bonds and chains, or whether you are a free man.  You have Jesus Christ.  Our God is faithful. Our God is powerful.  Our God is able.  God is asking you to trust Him no matter how dark it appears to be.  Put your hope in Him, maintain your brave calm.  Extraordinary courage is not just for the end of the earthly journey, it is for every day along the way in the journey. This is what we esteem in our daily lives and we must face it with the Hypomeno of heaven.  To call forth all that God has deposited in you via the Spirit of Almighty God and allow that response to be patience.  Brave calm and steadfast courage.  That is what you have, the inheritance of the saints of God.  WE can live this way, not just die this way.  Every singular daily death that we must die, we can die well.  It means that in every situation we must preach the glory of Jesus Christ.  In this life you will receive persecution, it is a guarantee, if you walk in Jesus Christ.  Listen to me closely, to die is gain.  Rejoice!  Rejoice!  You are privileged to suffer for the Living God and in doing so, your life will demonstrate to the on looking world what it looks like when God invades the life of men and lives the impossible through them."

You may remember that in the devotional called 'Bravehearts' that I mentioned that soldiers are not only taught to go to war, but to long for it.   The disposition is that of Christ who did not have a desire to suffer, but to do the will of God.  As I have recently read, those who give their lives to Christ have not just given up their will, but have found their will in God.  His will becomes our longing and if it means suffering or tribulation, then we long for it as long as His will is done.  It is easy to long for that which is light and easy on the flesh, but our Savior never longed for this, and neither should we.  We are called to suffer with Him if we want to share in His glory.

 

2 Corinthians 4: 7 – 12

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

⁸ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

⁹ Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

¹⁰ Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

¹¹ For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

¹² So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

 

TO BE PERFECT IN PATIENCE, LACKING NOTHING IS TO WIN CHRIST, OUR HOPE, OUR JOYFUL EXPECTATION AND SO OUR TRIAL BECOMES OUR TRIUMPH, OUR SUFFERING OUR SONG, OUR PRISON OUR PALACE AND OUR LOSS OUR GAIN…CHRIST OUR HOPE OF GLORY.