'HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS'
Three Angels Message of Revelation 14 (J.N. Andrews - 1877)
'The chronology of this message seems to be distinctly marked by the fact that it is given in the period of the "patience of the saints, " which follows the proclamation of the two former messages. "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. " Verse 12.
And this period of the saints' patience is marked by a most important fact, viz. , the KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND THE FAITH OF JESUS.
We wish to call attention to several points:
1. We have shown that the First Angel's Message refers to the solemn proclamation of the immediate second advent; consequently the period of patience here brought to view must be the same as that which in many scriptures is located IMMEDIATELY preceding the second advent.
A few text must suffice as examples:
"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of PATIENCE, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. " Heb. 10:35-39.
"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 later rain. Be ye also PATIENT; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the Judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, or an example of suffering affliction and of PATIENCE. " James 5:7-10.
"Because thou hast kept the word of my PATIENCE, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. " Rev. 3:10, 11.
"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. " Isa. 25:9.
*******
"Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. " Verse 12.
Any of us who hope to be among the saints has to have PATIENCE, has to have ENDURANCE in this great thing we call life.
How incredibly easy it is to give up, to give in to the senses that scream to be indulged. Surrounded by self indulgent people all around us, raised with self indulgence on display all around us- in school, on television, in movies, at stores, we see it all over the place. We are bombarded with the cries for us to indulge our selfish desires whatever they may be. We want something? Then it's out there waiting for us.
What has this to do with patience? Everything.
Patience, enduring what? Trials, temptations, abuse, hatred, shunning, all of it! The trials that are coming at the end are the WORST of the WORST because they are here at the end and we KNOW that the great deceiver does not want his great joy ride to be over. Satan does NOT want his end to come.
We know as human beings what it's like to know the end of something we hold dear to us is upon us. We don't like it, and yes, sometimes we fight against it when we are given the opportunity to do so. Sometimes we fight very hard to keep things from ending, and sometimes people die fighting to keep things. Yes, sometimes they give their lives trying to hold onto things they don't want to let go of. People have chosen to die rather than give up a lavish lifestyle, a favorite person, and so on. Satan knows his own end. Satan knows it better than most. Satan will do absolutely EVERYTHING he can to keep his end from coming. Does he know it's inevitable? Yes. But that's not going to stop him from trying to delay it for as long as he possibly can. If you know your end is imminent you do EVERYTHING to stop it and he is doing everything! He is going to try the patience of EVERY single saint!
We are told about patience for a reason and we must pay attention.
It's so easy to lose our patience. And if we do not endure to the end, we are giving up on eternity.
We have an enemy whose sole purpose is to make us impatient, to keep us from enduring and he will stop at NOTHING.
However, we have a GOD who will protect us if we surrender our lives to HIM. If we give our wills to GOD He will see us through! If we have faith in GOD to keep us patient He will!
More tomorrow… on the Keeping of the Commandments of God!
Please, Savior, keep us in YOU, in all things!
In YOUR LOVE!
Three Angels Message of Revelation 14 (J.N. Andrews - 1877)
'The chronology of this message seems to be distinctly marked by the fact that it is given in the period of the "patience of the saints, " which follows the proclamation of the two former messages. "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. " Verse 12.
And this period of the saints' patience is marked by a most important fact, viz. , the KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND THE FAITH OF JESUS.
We wish to call attention to several points:
1. We have shown that the First Angel's Message refers to the solemn proclamation of the immediate second advent; consequently the period of patience here brought to view must be the same as that which in many scriptures is located IMMEDIATELY preceding the second advent.
A few text must suffice as examples:
"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of PATIENCE, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. " Heb. 10:35-39.
"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 later rain. Be ye also PATIENT; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the Judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, or an example of suffering affliction and of PATIENCE. " James 5:7-10.
"Because thou hast kept the word of my PATIENCE, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. " Rev. 3:10, 11.
"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. " Isa. 25:9.
*******
"Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. " Verse 12.
Any of us who hope to be among the saints has to have PATIENCE, has to have ENDURANCE in this great thing we call life.
How incredibly easy it is to give up, to give in to the senses that scream to be indulged. Surrounded by self indulgent people all around us, raised with self indulgence on display all around us- in school, on television, in movies, at stores, we see it all over the place. We are bombarded with the cries for us to indulge our selfish desires whatever they may be. We want something? Then it's out there waiting for us.
What has this to do with patience? Everything.
Patience, enduring what? Trials, temptations, abuse, hatred, shunning, all of it! The trials that are coming at the end are the WORST of the WORST because they are here at the end and we KNOW that the great deceiver does not want his great joy ride to be over. Satan does NOT want his end to come.
We know as human beings what it's like to know the end of something we hold dear to us is upon us. We don't like it, and yes, sometimes we fight against it when we are given the opportunity to do so. Sometimes we fight very hard to keep things from ending, and sometimes people die fighting to keep things. Yes, sometimes they give their lives trying to hold onto things they don't want to let go of. People have chosen to die rather than give up a lavish lifestyle, a favorite person, and so on. Satan knows his own end. Satan knows it better than most. Satan will do absolutely EVERYTHING he can to keep his end from coming. Does he know it's inevitable? Yes. But that's not going to stop him from trying to delay it for as long as he possibly can. If you know your end is imminent you do EVERYTHING to stop it and he is doing everything! He is going to try the patience of EVERY single saint!
We are told about patience for a reason and we must pay attention.
It's so easy to lose our patience. And if we do not endure to the end, we are giving up on eternity.
We have an enemy whose sole purpose is to make us impatient, to keep us from enduring and he will stop at NOTHING.
However, we have a GOD who will protect us if we surrender our lives to HIM. If we give our wills to GOD He will see us through! If we have faith in GOD to keep us patient He will!
More tomorrow… on the Keeping of the Commandments of God!
Please, Savior, keep us in YOU, in all things!
In YOUR LOVE!
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