The Patience of Christ

Patient, Patience, Patiently = (NT) forbearance, longsuffering, endurance, continuance,  to forbear, bear long,  holding up under evil, yielding, lenient, to remain under, suffer long’ forbearingly, with long suffering; (OT)long, to wait, expect (Also see continuance, endure, wait, waiting)¹

One of the first things I learned as a Christian was that if you asked GOD to give you or teach you patience He would, and that the process of learning patience is long and hard. Some things you do not need to ask for because the process will happen naturally. The natural process may be easier than the advanced (asked for) but they both come through testing, trial, and tribulation. If you have been a Christian for very long you are familiar with the teachings on patience from Romans 5:1-5; Colossians 1:9-12; Hebrew 10:35-36, 12:1-11; James 1:2-4 and 2 Peter 1:5-11. And there are other verses that teach us that we must endure temptation, rejection, and persecution just as Jesus did and that these experiences when completed in faith and hope will bring maturity and blessings.

But!

As I was reading through Revelation this year I ran across verses that referenced the patience of Jesus and Saints so I started noting them.  “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and Kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the Word of GOD and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I know your works, your labor, your patience (perseverance), and that you cannot bear (endure) those that are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience (perseverance); and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Because you have kept My command to persevere (lit. the word of My patience), I also will keep you from the hour of tribulation which will come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience (perseverance) and the faith of the saints. Here is the patience (steadfastness, perseverance) of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of GOD and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 1:9; 2:2-3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12)

This is more than testing, trial, and tribulation, before being sent to the island of Patmos John was boiled in oil to kill him. In the letters to the churches Jesus commends, admonishes, and corrects them and each letter ends with the phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will…” This is not merely living a good Christian life free from sin and disobedience like in James 5:7-12, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the LORD. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the LORD is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the LORD, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the LORD—that the LORD is very compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your ’Yes’ be ’Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment.”

This is, “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of GOD and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O LORD, Holy and True, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. After these things I looked, and behold,  a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, people, and tongues, standing before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,…And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb...’ Then I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our GOD, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our GOD day and night, has been cast down.’ And they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-17; 12:10-11

How do we live this life? It must be as a Spirit empowered life by obeying Christ’s teaching!

This is where I stop writing and you start obeying the Spirit of GOD by reading, studying, meditating, and praying over what Jesus told us on how to live and what to do.

Just saying He is LORD, LORD is not enough, Do Not Sin Against Holy Spirit, My Family obeys the Will of My Father, we must take up our cross and deny ourself, do not cause offence, do it as unto the LORD not for reward, we must leave all to follow Him, strive to enter at the narrow gate, humble yourself and He will exalt you, the first shall be last and the last first, love one another as He loves us.

Mathew 7:21-23, 12:31-32 (Mark 3:28-30), :46-50, 16:24-27 (Mark 8:34-38, John 12:24-26) 18:6-9 (Matthew 5:27-30, Mark 9:42-50) 25:31-46; Luke 9:23-26 (Matthew 10:27-39), :57-62 (Matthew 8:18-23); 13:22-30, 14:7-14, :25-35; John 13:31-35; 15:9-17

Study Matthew chapters 5 thru 7, 10:16-39, 15:1-20, chapters 23 & 25; Mark 7:1-23, 12:38-40, 13:10-13; Luke 6:17-49, chapters 11 & 12; John chapters 10, 14 thru 17

Related scriptures:

James 1:3-4, 12; 5:7-8, 10-11

Luke 2:43; 8:15; 21:19

Matthew 18:26, 29; 24:13

Romans 2:7; 5:3-4; 8:24-25; 12:12; 15:4-5

2 Corinthians 6:4; 12:12

1 Timothy 3:3; 6:11

2 Timothy 2:24; 3:10

Hebrews 6:12, 15; 10:36; 12:1, 7

1 Peter 2:20

2 Peter 1:6

Acts 17:14; 26:3

1 Thessalonians 1:3; 5:14

2 Thessalonians 1:4; 3:5

Colossians 1:11

Titus 2:2

Revelation 1:9; 2:2-3, 19; 3:10; 12:11; 13:10; 14:12

Psalms 40:1

Ecclesiastes 7:8

GOD is Longsuffering = (OT) long of face or anger; (NT) longsuffering

Exodus 34:6

Numbers 14:18

Psalms 86:15

Jeremiah 15:15

Romans 15:4-5

2 Peter 3:9

All quoted scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1980

¹ Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, Twenty-Second American Edition, Wm.B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1969