Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:3 NASB)
…This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful. (Revelation 13:10 NLT)
This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus. (Revelation 14:12 NLT)
I spy another end time theme emerging from my reading of the book of Revelation. On several occasions, the writer uses the exact same words to describe the appropriate posture of the church toward persecution: that of patient obedience and endurance. Paul calls it “suffering hardship,” but any soldier who has ever suffered hardship in the natural understands the parallel.
I spent time sleeping in holes dug in the ground in the cold of winter. It wasn’t pleasant, and it wasn’t fun. But it was part of being a soldier. My commander had instructed me to remain at my position, and my posture towards his instruction was one of patient obedience. I know in the back of my mind that the commander would not have asked me to remain in the hole if it wasn’t necessary for the mission or for my development as a soldier. I had a benevolent commander whom I could trust explicitly to lead me.
How much more can we trust the leadership of Jesus?
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4 NLT)
You’ve probably heard the term “training for reigning” before, but I’d like to evoke the idea in the context of suffering. In the last days, the Lord will pour out his judgement on the Antichrist government and religion, and the beast will rage with anger towards the praying church. For a season, it will have power to kill the saints, to put them in jail, and to starve them. We must learn to endure hardship now of our own free will so that we will be prepared to lead when that day comes.
This is not a doom and gloom message, but rather an invitation to come to know Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith. We are asking Him to finish a work within us and prepare us for that day. We are saying that any hardship is worth enduring for the sake of knowing Him more.
Suffering and hardship is a message not to many waving the “prophetic” banner want to look into today. Nevertheless, it is an integral part of the gospel as well as a necessary and undeniable part of Sonship. You’ve got a great blog and site here brother! Keep pumping out the propaganda! There are millions of burning ones who are in desperate need of holy fuel! Thanks!
Thanks Jeff. I appreciate the encouragement. I don’t know if we wave the prophetic banner here, but we do try to listen to the voice of the Lord, both for messages that are popular and for messages that are not.
You write very well.
Thanks for the encouragement.