THE ENDURANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN

Heb. 12:3

Morning Meditation 8/1/17

"For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."

The word "endure" translates "hupomeno" and means, "to remain, to persevere: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one's faith in Christ." Peter is speaking of perseverance in 1 Peter 2:19 when he says, "For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully."

The word perseverance as it is used in the Bible is not a doctrine taught in the churches today. For instance, a person comes to a pastor for counsel. Say for instance, a Christian lady is being mistreated by her husband. The pastor counsels her to pray and get God's grace to continue without complaint in that situation. The average lady is not going to like that counsel. But what Peter says are words of counsel for such a situation. The Christian faith involves enduring grief, suffering wrongfully." Obeying that is as important to the Lord for your life as answering the call to go to some foreign mission field. I can just see the expression on some of your faces as you read this. You see, one of God's rules for service is just as important as the other. And much of the time what He tells us to do involves suffering. This is the day of suffering. The day is coming where the word suffering will not be found in heaven's dictionary. Someone hold my mules!!! Hallelujah!!!

I want us to look at a few places where the word endure or endurance is found in the way of obedience for the Christian today.

ENDURANCE THAT INVOLVES HARDNESS

Paul in his instructions to Timothy as a young preacher being trained by Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:3, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

The words "endure hardness" translate "kakopatheo" mean, "to suffer (endure) evils, (hardships, troubles)." Kittel defines this word as, "to suffer misfortune." One cannot read the New Testament without realizing that it was not easy being a preacher or Christian in those early days.

Paul says "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." The use of the word "soldier" identifies his task as a warfare against Satan the chief enemy of the Church. If he can cause the preacher to quit as a defeated worker for Christ, he can use that to discourage a lot of people. To serve the Lord in times of trouble is difficult. It is hard to keep a positive attitude. A common word that is used of ministers quitting today is "burnout." When I pastored and someone in the church got upset over some trivial thing, I just directed my attention to the purpose of my calling and dug in and gave myself fully to the ministry of the word. Most of the time when the disgruntled member found he could not get my attention he just faded out of the picture until he could stir up something else. It was always a blessing to see them move their membership!!! Hallelujah!!! Satan just puts some people in the church to discourage the pastor and the more attention he can get the happier he is. If you just turn him over to Jesus and concentrate on the members who love the Lord, and the ones you can help, he will fade away after a while. Time is a good servant of the Lord. That is enduring.

THEN THERE IS THE ENDURING OF CHASTENING

Hebrews 12:7-11, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

The word "chastening" means, "the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment)." Chastening is not necessarily punishment for wrong doing. It can be pressure for the exercise of endurance and the opportunity of prayer to witness what God will do to give grace to help in time of need. Someone said, "smooth seas don't make good sailors." This is a good saying for Christians.. Some Christians run every time a problem arises. That's a shame. Not only does the pastor have to deal with the problem that caused the Christian to run, but he also has to deal with the depression experienced caused by members who cannot stay with him and pray for him until the storm passes by. I think one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with is being forsaken by friends who bail out and leave me alone.

You say, "Preacher, you are just having a pity party." Was Paul when he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:15-17? "Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." Thank the Lord He stands with His people when they are right. But that does not mean that some of them won't have lion slobbers on them!!!

The enduring of chastening is the enduring of hardships that naturally come to the ministry or serving the Lord. He is saying "endure!" Don't quit. God is making you strong in His service.

THE ENDURANCE OF TEMPTATION

James 1:12, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

The word "Blessed" means, "Happy is the man that endureth temptation." I don't think James means that he is happy at the time of the temptation. But he is a happy man as a result of the successful endurance of the temptation. There are some temptations that we face as Christians that would be impossible to withstand if the unseen God was not standing by our side to strengthen us. God is Spirit and we cannot see Him. But we certainly can acknowledge His presence and the strengthening of His Holy Spirit to withstand the temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." That verse has always been a blessing to me. There are times that the temptations with which we are faced make it seem that we are all alone. God clearly declares that we are never tempted in a way that is uncommon. It simply means that what you are going through is common, that others of your brethren have gone and are going through the same thing.. That knowledge takes away the loneliness.

Another thing that makes the tempted man a happy man is that there is a promise of a special reward that goes with the endurance of that temptation: "He shall receive the crown of life." When I read the biography of Adoniram Judson and his long life of suffering and trials on the mission field of Burma, I want to bow before God and ask His forgiveness for any complaint. Judson outlived several wives (I believe 3), and he left several short graves of children that disease claimed, and when he died they buried him at sea so that a monument would not be raised to give him glory for the work he had done. I believe Judson is wearing a crown of life in the Lord's presence today.

Then the verse says, "Which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." We need to ask ourselves, "Do I really love the Lord?" And we need to measure that love by His way of measuring. He said, "If you love me keep my commandments."

There are many things that believers have to endure as Christians. We do not need to whine about it. We are members of a heavenly band headed for glory and looking for the soon coming Saviour. He promised us that He will come again are received us to Himself and we can count on that promise being true. Just like Enoch walked with God and the Lord took him to heaven without death, He will do the same for us. I pray that happens in my life time. It would thrill me to look back and see the search that will be made by those left behind. Hebrews 11:5 says, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts. And may He give us grace to endure whatever confronts us and be faithful without compromise.

In Christ

Bro. White