Endurance and God’s Blessing (Part 2)

So that we can be encouraged to suffer patiently, God tells us about men who did.  Suffering is not new to God's faithful believers.

August 27, 2021

"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction and of patience.  Behold, we count them happy, which endure.  Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy."

James 5:10-11

Part 2

Yesterday:  Yes, Those Who Are Godly and in God’s Will, Do Suffer
“Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord.”
All through the Old Testament, many of God’s choicest prophets who have faithfully proclaimed God’s Word to His people were persecuted by the very people they went to help.

 

Today:  The Long-Suffering Kind of Patience

“For an example of suffering affliction and of patience.”
Here are two things that we might not care to see presented together, “affliction and patience.”  It has been said that a human can endure almost anything if they know it’s only temporary.  But when life gets hard and there is no apparent end to the struggles at hand, it becomes remarkably rugged.  And this is where God calls for our patience as we suffer our afflictions.

“Example”

I don’t know what it’s like for you, but if I know someone who has gone through the same thing that I am going through, it helps me to talk with them about their experience.  Years ago, my doctors gave me a choice.  Have both knees replaced or live the rest of my life in a wheelchair.  The thought of two surgeries and painful therapy was not appealing at all, but it beat living in a wheelchair.  I started looking for anyone who had gone through the surgery to talk to them about it.  Immediately anyone with “zipper knees” became my friend and example.  It was a blessing to meet new friends who had gone through it all before.  They encouraged me greatly.

God understands this about human nature, and He has given us the Old Testament so that we can have plenty of examples to help us see how we ought to live and trust Him.

“Nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.  Now, these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.  Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:10-12, ESV[1]).

God used Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of what happens to those who are ungodly (2 Peter 2:6).  And He used His godly prophets as examples for us so that we can know how to bear up under suffering with patience.

“Suffering Affliction”

God’s prophets were preaching in His name, and yet many of them suffered greatly while serving Him.

“As much as God honored and loved them, yet they were not exempted from afflictions, but were maligned, traduced, and persecuted by men, …and therefore when they suffered such hard things, it is no shame for you to suffer the like…”[2] (Poole).

To name a few of God’s “examples.”

Elijah suffered during the same drought as God’s people did, and he still had King Ahab and Jezebel to deal with (1 Kings chapters 18 and 19).

Elisha ran the school for the prophets, yet the Syrians were after him, wanting him dead (2 Kings 6:31).

Godly David was persecuted, hounded by ungodly King Saul who wanted him dead (1 Samuel 19:9-12).

Jeremiah had God’s fire in his bones to preach for Him and was persecuted for his trouble.  He was left in a pit to die, as well as having other atrocities done to him (Jeremiah 1:19; 15:15; chapters 37 and 38).

Amos was a faithful prophet of God and yet wrongly accused of standing against the king (Amos 7:10).

 

“Patience”

God makes it clear that we need to be cradling our suffering in patience.  The word patience in verse 10 is different from the word translated in verse 11 of “Job’s patience,” as we will see later.  This patience –

“patience (… lit., “long-temperedness”; …v. 7)”[3] (BKC).

“Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.  Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain” (James 5:7).

This is the kind of patience that a farmer needs.  They till the ground, plant the seed, pray for rain, and wait patiently for their harvest.  This requires their patience stretched over several months.

If we want this kind of stamina, it will require us to have “patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness,” and “perseverance”[4] (Thayer).  This ancient word is usually translated as “long-suffering” in the KJV.  So, as we endure suffering, we are prepared to do so for the long haul because we do not know when or if it will end in this life.  We need to keep our eyes on the Lord.

James reminds us that we wait patiently for the Lord to return.

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” James 5:8).

Believers, remember, we are not patiently waiting for something, but someone!

Come back tomorrow as we look at God’s premier example of patience – Job.

 

Quote:  “There are some things good but not pleasant, as sorrow and affliction.  Sin is pleasant but unprofitable, and sorrow is profitable but unpleasant.  As waters are purest when they are in motion, so saints are generally holiest when in affliction”[5] (William Secker).

 

 

 

[1] ESV is the English Standard Version.
[2] Poole’s quote is borrowed from the Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.  James 5:1-20.
[3] Blue, J. R. (1985).  James.  In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 833).  Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.  The emphasis is theirs.
[4] J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[5] Secker’s quote Downloaded: Saturday, March 20, 2021.  From: https://www.christianquotes.info/quotes-by-topic/quotes-about-affliction/.