The Patience of God

Scripture speaks of the world in three different ways or characters. Three names found in connection with the history of God’s people describe it. Egypt: The world in its natural state, out of which the people of God have been redeemed. Babylon: The corruption of power in its activity; corruption of power enslaves the conscience, the heart, the mind. Nineveh: The pride of the world, in its thoughtlessness and indifference to God; because of its pride throwing off God. We get the judgment of the world in this latter phase here. Nineveh was a place of large resources. It was lifted up by the greatness of itself, and it threw off God; and here we have the judgment of God upon it, the greatness of God’s power which will be manifested when He judges the scene which has rejected Christ. Two things are connected with this. He will come to judge this world where the pride of man is running high against Him; and it will not only be the display of His power in judgment, but He is pleased to link with this display of power in the day when He will judge the pride of men, the emancipation of creation; it will be the day of its liberty. (Rom. 8:19-20) The sons of God have a creation waiting upon them! Have we the sense of this? If we are sons of God, creation waits upon us. Who hath “subjected it”? Adam. He was placed at the head of creation. He fell; consequently all under his headship must be subjected to vanity. “In hope,” because the creature itself also shall be delivered into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. It is beautiful to see the connection between the display of power, and the liberty of that which is now under thralldom. God will come and put down evil with a high hand. Now it is the time of His grace and long-suffering. Patience is the great quality or attribute of God which is prominent at this present time—patience in the presence of impudent evil. Our poor hearts are impatient; nothing tests us as to this like the presence of sin, and self-will, and obstinacy. We get here (vss. 2, 3) a beautiful blending of attributes. We find the same characteristic in the New Testament: “The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ.” (2 Thess. 5) We are in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. This is the character God assumes at this present time, when evil is rife on every hand. He will soon judge unsparingly; it is the patience of One who is omnipotent. I believe the reason why the apostle places patience first in 2 Cor. 6, when he shows what is to signalize the ministers of God, is because it is the quality or character of God that is prominent at the present moment. (2 Cor. 12:12) There were certain characteristics which marked all the apostles, but in none was this divine quality so prominent as in Paul, and none had greater pressure on him. What must it have been to him to see the Corinthians, with all their light and truth, so fallen into evil! It is worthy of note, that whenever we see Paul’s doctrine touched, his apostleship was questioned. In most instances when the truth was refused, the vessel through whom the truth was communicated was rejected. How did Paul prove his apostleship to them? By being patient in the presence of evil. (2 Cor. 12:12) When he looks on to the days now present (2 Tim.), patience and gentleness are to characterize the servant. (See chap. 2:24) Nothing tests us more than to be surrounded by evil. A sense of righteousness and truth of itself will not keep us. It is not that we are to be indifferent to evil, we ought to feel it; but feeling it is one thing, acting on our feelings is another. Acting on our feelings is little better than mere impulse. The character to be manifested by us when the world is growing hoary in crime is “gentleness, meekness, patience.” In Heb. 10 we find this quality is looked for in the saints generally, as in the apostle and the servant (2 Cor.; 2 Tim.): “Ye were made a gazing-stock … ye became companions of them that were so used.” (vs. 33) It requires a greater energy of faith, and a greater exercise of patience, to be the companions of those so used.
If we are for God, we shall have all against us; yet it is our joy to be able to say, “He knoweth them that trust in Him;” and, “I know whom I have believed.” The blessed, perfect man Himself, the faithful witness, was left alone; and yet He was not alone, because His Father was with Him. If you are standing for God in these days, you will have the accumulated hatred of Christendom against you. Every religious body in it, however diverse and in other respects opposed in doctrine and practice, will shake hands over their united and common opposition to that which, Antipas-like, is a condemnation of all. There is nothing more blessed to behold than the patience of Christ, which in faith is contented to wait. Are you patient? have you a sense of superiority in the presence of evil? That is patience. If you are not patient, it is because you are not superior. How good it is to see one pressed, and tried, and harassed, yet going on quietly and peacefully! Of such we can say, “Superior to everything,” because they can endure. What a stay to have the truth on our side, and the God of peace with us! The apostle could say, “I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion [Nero], and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom.” Our hearts need to be fortified in order that we may stand, and thus be prepared for what is coming. If we have the sense that God is with us, we are prepared to stand, solitary and alone, on the blessed truth of the word of God; happy to have company with us on the road, but independent of it. It is enough for the heart to have the Lord’s presence; the sense of this works patience. How enduring we should be if we only knew that God was with us. We may be left alone, maligned, despised. “All men forsook me; but notwithstanding the Lord stood by me.” We have one blessed, mighty Friend, and He is unfailing and unchanging.
This chapter properly expresses the circumstances of the remnant; and though it may not apply directly to ourselves, yet the moral principles of it are true with us. It is very blessed to see how all comes out from God’s side. It was the stay of the heart then; it is equally so now. Every child of God is in circumstances of trial and pressure, because we are still in the wilderness. Our comfort is, “The Lord is good.” This is His nature. His power, omnipotence, omniscience, are His attributes; but He Himself is good. When we get the light of the New Testament shining upon it, what do we find? He gave His Son—He gave His Spirit. It is only as we know the heart of God that we know the purpose of His ways; judging of God by our feeble sense leads to infidelity. His ways are no interpretation of Him. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” God manifest in the flesh, is God’s revelation of Himself.
“God so loved … that He gave.” Here we have the expressed revelation of the love of His heart through the Son of His love. He came and revealed the secrets of that bosom. There is not a secret of His heart that is not manifested. Nothing but love marks Him. You must bring the nature of God to shine on His ways, otherwise we shall bring our own puny reason to account for them. “His way is in the sea,” etc. Is that all? “Thou leddest thy people like a flock.” Here we have His tender, watchful care and interest. We are led by the hand of our great Shepherd, not by the hand of Moses and Aaron: “He is a stronghold in the day of trouble.” It does not say He will take us out of the trouble, or that He will lighten it; but it is what He Himself is—”a stronghold in the day of trouble.” Have we learned what it is to have a resource, and not relief only? We are so often looking for relief, merely; we need as well a resource; it is what He Himself is— “a stronghold,” etc. What a blessed thing to have a resource before relief comes; and the relief is then no less sweet to us. A person who is looking only for relief is always impatient, because he desires to have the weight removed, the difficulty taken away; and the will of man is apt to clothe itself in the deceiving garment of seeming good; viz., how much more freely and happily I could serve and follow Him, if this weight were removed. “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me,” but when Paul heard the voice of Jesus announcing the sufficiency of His grace, and how His power worked, he accepts unmitigated the thorn, in order that the power of Christ may (επισκηνωση) pitch its tent over him.
Again, observe how those who count on God are described. He does not speak of what they have left, or what they have obtained, but they “trust in Him.” They make everything of Him. Observe too, it is not their knowledge, not that they are devoted, blessed as that is; it is they trust in Him, and He knows it. It is too blessed a thing to be satisfied with the knowledge of God about us. It is strikingly seen in restored Peter, when the Lord tested him as to the point he had boasted in. He says, “Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee.” He had confidence in himself before; he now retires on his Lord’s knowledge of him; he had found out what he was, and he has not a word to say for himself. His solace is, “Thou knowest.” In 2 Timothy, when the apostle describes the last days, it is the same blessed principle which is put forth to guide the faithful heart. To the one who departs from iniquity, what a comfort it is: “The Lord knoweth them that are His.”
May our hearts be so with Him as to find out the reality and sustainment of this word: “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.”
W. T. T.
Characteristics of Remnant Times
Chap. 2. is specially to the priests. You see why he refers to this. (vss. 4-8) Levi had earned his place. You remember that when the children of Israel had got the calf Moses stood in the gate, and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me.” He left it to them; and the sons of Levi alone gathered themselves together to him, thereby saying they were for God; while the rest were identified with the calf. What you get in Exodus is confirmed in Deut. 33, “Who said unto his father,” &c. They had been faithful in the matter of the golden calf, but now solemnly He comes to the priests and says, “Why are you in this position? Why did I make a covenant with you? It was when God was more to them than father or mother that that covenant was made.” Now, instead of being far God, they were caring more for themselves, considering more their own gain, and allowing blemished sacrifices to be brought out for God. Self had come in; and we may be against everybody but self. They were in a place which was against all contrary to God in others. When it came to themselves, they were not prepared to give Him the place He looked for; they were considering self. “All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” Did you never think that every circumstance is an opportunity of showing what Christ is to us? The world reads what place Christ has in your heart by your actions, in what may appear to you but trivial circumstances, “whether ye eat or drink.” God does not shut out anything. He comes down to the lowest detail of your life. If you say it would not be quite convenient to bring Christ into this circumstance, to introduce Him into this scene, to ask Him to be interested in what I am doing, it is because you well know He would be very likely to rebuke it.
You know it is a common practice with travelers to cut their initials in mountain passes or rocks, or to scrape their names on walls in favorite resorts; and these marks show they have been there. Their initials are there. It is just the same with everything we have in our pathway. We leave our marks upon them all, and the world forms its judgment by the way we have touched them. The moment we cannot bring Christ in, we know we are not in our right place. There is nothing we have to do which is not a matter of importance, and you will show by your touch what place Christ has in your heart. If God has His place you will rejoice for him to have His unblemished sacrifice, even if you would get a nice piece for yourself by lowering the standard.
Chapter 3:1-3. They were professing to be, waiting for this messenger, and so took the ground of being all right-it was all hollow, and it would not do for God. They heard the rebukes against it, but they refused to accept the sentence. Then Comes the message -He will come. Do you think He will accept this state of things. Do you think this messenger is such an one as yourselves? He will come time—the One you profess to delight in; but He will come in judgment. He will have a remnant, but it will not be the state of things He finds—which will be acceptable to Him. He will have to “sit as a refiner, and as a purifier of silver.” It will not be merely God coming in to deliver from the fiery furnace He will come in, showing the hollowness, before He descends in blessing. He must come in as He is, in His character of truth, and there must be room made for Him.
We hear a great deal at the present time about the coming of the Lord. Saints say they are waiting for Him. What is your life saying? For God will have reality. Is it inviting the return of the Lord, when you are tampering with things which you know He would disapprove of? God does not look only for an invitation for His Son in a hymn, in our lips; He looks at our desires. Go and be “like unto men that wait for their Lord.” If I am expecting friends, I go to the station to meet them. I am looking for them; so I am on the platform, and my presence there shows I am looking for them. Rev. 22:20 is a moral thing, “Come, Lord Jesus.” It is the answer when Christ says, I am coming. It is the attitude of the Church, saying, The sooner the better.
But now, can the world see in you what they saw in the Thessalonians? Paul went to them, preached to them; and when he has left them he says, I have no need to go and tell the world what I preached to them, anybody can see it; and people were saying, He has been preaching Christ to them, and he has told them that the Son of God is coining back to them, and they have given up all their idols, and they are waiting for Him. Everybody could see it. There was a different stamp about their walk; that is waiting for the Lord; it is the simplest thing possible, yet the most difficult. Our walk shows clearly the object before us. It stamps us. It is not merely separation from evil, but looking out for Christ. And it is the place Christ has got in your heart which gives the character to your walk. It was not that the Thessalonians were taken up with reproving those around, but others could see clearly what they were after.
It is a very solemn thing to be inviting Christ in such a careless way. If we are singing, “Lord Jesus, come,” we ought all to be in the attitude suitable for His coming. And what about the worldliness? what about the unjudged evil? It is right doctrine, but not what God looks for. He looks for a state of Iva in keeping with the doctrine.
What a rest to the heart as we come to verse 6! Amidst all the unfaithfulness God remains unchangeable. Heaven and earth may pass away, but God cannot change. His dealings may change, but through all the changes it is to bring about one end. You see it in John 13, “Having loved His own;” but His dealings change. Why? Because not only has He separated them from those around, but His thought has been that they might enjoy communion with Himself in His sphere. That is His heart’s desire.
The remnant persist in self-justification, yet He comes in and blesses them. He does not leave them, though they persistently shut the door to His claims. (vss. 8-10) The heart of Jehovah yearns for blessing. He longs to pour out all His heart has in store for them, so that there may not be room enough to receive it. (4:11-13) Are you not struck with the patience, the unwearying love of God? Anybody else would have been repulsed and driven away long ago. There was but one heart which would have borne it all. Yet in verse 14 they say, God has not been true to His word.
Ver. 15. Another mark of their condition. They want to break down all distinctions. “Call the proud happy,” class them all together, and make them all alike. That is the judgment of a heart not in communion with God. They “put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”
Then we get the effect on the heart which has been reached.
Ver. 16-18. Now the result of it all. The end He has had before him in all His dealings. God will come in and have His love gratified, and this last message of God to Israel produces in the hearts of a few the knowledge of what they are, and they “feared the Lord,” and they “thought upon His name.” Then He blessed them above all they could have thought of. He was hearkening for the faintest beat of a heart that responded to His deep affection. His ear was listening for the first note. It is a wonderful picture at the end of God’s dealing with them.
And do you know what He is hearkening for now? He is listening for a note, here and there, from a stray heart which owns God’s love, which beats true to Him; and God does not lose a note of it. And by-and-by He will recall it all again. Ver. 17: “When I make up my jewels,” you will return again to your land, “and I will spare you, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” You did not see that you needed succor; but my eye looked forward to “that day.”
Another thing, in verse 18, instead of calling “the proud happy,” you will “discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.” There will be no more writing pleasant names over those who are doing evil. If God be God, serve Him, and there will no longer be trying to paint up what is contrary to Him. The heart discerns what is true amidst a great deal that is unfaithful and untrue. True grace and true love discerns.
And now what a word this book is to us! What a place it occurs in! God has come in, has spoken to us as He never did to the house of Israel. He cannot say another word; He has not a deeper proof of love. He says, I have given the grandest proof of my love; I have given my only-begotten Son; if you are not convinced, I have nothing more I can give.
Turn to Luke 2 for a moment. There you get instances of those who were waiting for the Lord. First, in Simeon. Look at the character of the man. It was not a question of intelligence; he was a godly, sober, waiting man. You see Simeon waiting, and you get the proof of his waiting. When he has taken the babe in his arms, he says, Now I am ready to go; I have only been waiting.
Then there is Anna. In verse 37 you get a description of her. And in these two characters you get the picture of the faithful remnant who were really waiting for the first coming. Anna not only gives thanks, but she goes and speaks of Him “to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” God comes to our hearts, and He looks to see what Christ is to the Church. We have learned a great deal of truth in these last days, and we are gathered here because we have learned the place in which He would have us.
What now? “We thus judge, that if One died, then Were all dead, and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” There must be something definite in our path. We own that Christ is the one round whom our hearts and affections are gathered. Is that what we are telling out in our lives? or is it as in Ephesus? You get in the Thessalonians “work of faith and labor of love.” In Ephesus get “work” and “labor”—too. To outward observers, the same as in Thessalonica; but Be comes and looks. When His eye rests upon them, He says, “I know thy works,” but “thou hast left thy first love.” The brightest church had dwindled clown to formality, and there was not a bit of power in it. The affection was gone.
Paul writes to the Corinthians: “I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present a chaste virgin to Christ.” His heart laid hold of what Christ would have the Church.
Peter could write: “Whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice With joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Is that the character of our hearts? Not merely waiting for an ordinary person, but as He says, “I have loved thee.” Do our hearts so throb with affection that we “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory?”
The one thing which melts the heart of a Christian is the immutability of the heart which looks for the love, and treasures it up. There was plenty of activity in Martha. She may sweep the house, and prepare the dinner; but there are very few alabaster boxes broken for the Lord. So He says, “Open wide the windows, and let the perfume of that which has been a sweet savor to Me go out to the world.” It was what Christ was to that heart which broke the alabaster box. And it is that which is done to Christ, and for Christ, which makes a sweet savor to God.
God’s principles are unchanged: He was looking then for affection, though Israel did not know the love which is told out to us; His heart could not be satisfied with anything else. There is no use in handing out to God activity, service, anything else; yet if He sees a “cup of Scold water” given to one of His little ones, prompted by deep, real love to His name, He says, That is the thing for my heart; that is what I am looking for. And what are you each furnishing the heart of Christ with each day? Is it your desire to be satisfying His love? Can you say, It is the intense longing of my heart to know how to respond to and satisfy the yearning affection of that One who has told out such deep love to me? May the Lord grant it in every one of His beloved saints.
J. B.