IF YOU JUST HANG IN THERE, GOD MAY GIVE YOU THIS

IF YOU JUST HANG IN THERE, GOD MAY GIVE YOU THIS

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
First Corinthians 12:8-10

God offers some amazing gifts of the Spirit to help His people to share the gospel and bring blessing to others. I’m sure that there are many of us who would love to have the gifts of miracles or healing, or perhaps the gifts of prophecy or words of knowledge? But there is something perhaps more necessary and even more powerful than these gifts, that is also more important to acquire than these gifts. Without it, our witness is undermined and our credibility is diminished. With it, our witness is strengthened and our credibility is buttressed. Of all the virtues commended in the New Testament, apart from love, endurance is the most commended. 

By your endurance you will gain your lives.
Jesus Christ (Luke 21:19)

I want to encourage those of you who do not feel that your witness for Christ or contribution into His Kingdom is anything significant – yet you have endured setbacks, disappointments, and hardships and remained faithful to Christ, His Word, and His Church. Well done! You, then, are the beneficiaries of the apostle Paul’s Romans 15:5 prayer.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,
Romans 15:5

Speaking of the apostle Paul, he knew a thing or two about spectacular miracles and dramatic spiritual experiences. Yet when his credibility was challenged by hostile critics from Corinth, rather than dwell on these experiences to validate his apostolic ministry, instead, he cited his examples of endurance in the midst of afflictions, hardships and calamities.

but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
Second Corinthians 6:4

The Apostle told the Colossians that his praying for them; their increasing knowledge of Christ; their walking in a manner worthy of Christ; their seeking to please God in how they lived; and, their bearing of the fruits of kindness and service of others, was all for nothing if they weren’t consistent with it in the midst of discomfort and adverse circumstances. Not only did he encourage them to endure, he encouraged them to endure patiently and with joy.

¶ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
Colossians 1:9-11

One of the last books of the New Testament to be written was Hebrews. Its author, quite probably Barnabas, wrote to these Jewish believers who were having doubts about Jesus as their Christ and the reality of the New Covenant’s arrival. Added to this, his audience were under mounting pressure from their countrymen to forsake Christianity and return to their old ways. Rather than tell them to have more faith, or believe harder, or seek God for further confirming miracles, the author of Hebrews implores his audience and fellow Jews to endure. Endurance, he tells them, has an ultimate reward from God. Sure, it means going through hardship, some deprivation, a measure of social pain, but in the end it delivers a reward that nothing else is able to deliver. 

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Hebrews 10:36

There’s lots of commendable things to seek God for – wisdom, strength, knowledge, opportunities, increased love,but none are commended to us as much godly endurance. in the closing book of the Bible, the Apostle John commends endurance at least six times (Rev. 1:9; 2:2; 2:19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12). 

¶ Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
Revelation 14:12

Christ’s call for God’s people to endure, as prophesied by the Apostle John, is perhaps more necessary today than ever before. As a church we might become known for many virtuous things, such as – our care for each other, our welcoming attitude toward newcomers, our depth of Biblical teaching and knowledge, our willingness to stand up for the oppressed and voiceless, our support of welfare programs, our ministry to young mums, our vibrant youth ministry, and our professional approach to children’s ministry – and all these reputational markers can be buttressed if we can also become known as a community of Christ-lovers who endure hardship, some deprivation, and a measure of social pain, in order to be faithful to Christ, His Word, and His Church. Whatever you are praying for from God, I hope that I have now encouraged you to ask God to help you endure. When the world, the enemy or just circumstances, tries to keep you from God’s Word or the weekly gathering of God’s people, I trust that you will exercise your spiritual endurance muscles and hang in there. And of all the things you really need or just want, perhaps if you can hang in there and continue doing the right thing, God may grant you this one request – that you will have the strength to do what’s best: endure!

¶ “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
Revelation 2:19

Pastor Andrew Corbett

KiNDNESS

KiNDS OF kINDNESS

¶ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
First Corinthians 13:4

The God we worship can be described with many adjectives such as, holy, beautiful, glorious, and loving. Perhaps one of the least celebrated attributes of God is that He is kind.

The LORD is righteous in all His ways
 and kind in all His works.
Psalm 145:17

WORSHIP TRANSFORMS

As we worship God and we “behold” His attributes, we are conformed closer to them. When a believer worships the God of the Bible (who is loving, faithful, generous, gracious, holy, and kind) they will increasingly develop these characteristics in their life. The same principle of worship applies to those who have a wrong God or wrong view of God. Those who see God as a War-Mongering Sheik, they will tend to display the fruit of terror toward others. For those who are beholding the God of the Bible, the fruit in their lives will be that their character is transformed into being more merciful, loving, patient, caring, tender-hearted, and kind.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Second Corinthians 3:18

    

ABOUT KiNDNESS

Being ‘kind’ is being friendly, generous, and considerate. Kindness may be shown when there is an expectation that the kindness may be returned. This might happen when a work colleague gives another colleague a lift to work without seeking any payment, except the possibility that the favour may one day be returned. There is another kind of kindness which is more concerned with how others see it. A husband, who rarely (if ever), opens a door for his wife when no-one is looking, but shows door-opening kindness toward his wife when he takes her to a work dinner. And there is a rarer, Christ-inspired, kindness which is very generous, very costly, and given without any expectation of it being returned or viewed. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Kindness is a preeminent trait of the Christ follower. There was once a husband and father who was also a soldier. He was sent to war which meant being away from his wife and children. During his time away, he wrote regularly to his family. As the conflict went on, the letters slowed, then stopped. Obviously concerned, his wife hoped and prayed that her husband was safe. Then the tragic letter arrived. It was from her husband. He told his wife that he would not be returning to her and the children because he had met and fallen in love with a local girl who had given birth to their son. His wife was devastated. She cried and cried out to God for answers. The years went by and life was a struggle for her and her children. Then, to her surprise, she receive a letter with a request from her ex-husband by mail. In that letter he told her that he had been diagnosed with cancer and only had a short time left to live. This would mean that his new wife and child would have no means of support. He was arranging for them to migrate to live as citizens in the country where his ex-wife was. His request? He asked his former wife if she would take them in and look after them. At first, his ex-wife was staggered at the request but after prayer she felt that despite her own meagre situation she should show kindness to this woman and her child. When they arrived, she welcomed them into their home and for the next few years gave them free board and lodgings. This was kind of that man’s first wife.  

THE CHALLENGE OF KiNDNESS

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
First Peter 4:13-14

The early Christians were noted for their kindness. One First Century Roman historian wrote about these odd Christians loving each other and those who were ordinarily despised. Historian Prof. Rodney Stark has stated –

“…what Christians did was take care of each other. Christians loved one another, and when they got sick they took care of each other. Someone brought you soup. You can do an enormous amount to relieve those miseries if you look after each other…
Abortion was a huge killer of women in this period, but Christian women were spared that…We’ve unearthed sewers clogged with the bones of newborn girls. But Christians prohibited this…Christian women also had “tremendous advantages compared to the women next door,” he said, adding that non-Christian girls could be married as young as 11, but Christian girls could wait until the age of 18.”
(Interview with Christianity Today, 2000)
“To cities filled with homeless and the impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services.”
– Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force

To worship Christ is to increasingly become kind toward others. We could do it because we may have the kindness returned. We could do it because our kindness is on display. But we should do it because we worship a kind Saviour who when He was mistreated did not return the mistreatment, but instead, showed kindness. I suspect that in the days to come this aspect of our devotion to Christ may well be put to the test.

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
First Peter 3:9

Ps. Andrew

Patience

INSTANT PATIENCE?

Patient people sometimes irritate us. In the midst of shared turmoil they remain unruffled. Even though others let them down, they still manage to keep going and get things done with those people. And when small-minded people mock them with backhanded sarcassism, they keep smiling and speak well of their detractors. No wonder they irritate us! But yet we admire patient people at the same time. Although we don't admit it, we'd all like to be more patient and not let the things of day-to-day life annoy us so much. And like most things we would all really like, we'd rather have the virtue of patience now, than have to wait for it.

Gal. 5:22 ¶ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness

It's a noble virtue. It is closely associated with true spirituality and genuine devotion to Christ (Rom. 8:25; 2Cor. 6:6; Eph. 4:2). When the Apostle prayed for the Colossians he prayed that they might enjoy and exhibit God's best gifts: joy, strength, endurance, might, and patience. It seems that any believer who is in a hurry to be done with prayer, Bible reading, fellowship, worship, or instruction, may be revealing their true spiritual condition as rather pitiful. But the believer who will pray through the night, study the Scriptures for an evening each week with others, sit at the bedside of a dying friend into the wee hours, or continue to be friends with the one they have witnessed to for years without so much as a hint of interest shown by them in the precious Gospel, is demonstrating, by their patience, a deep work of the Spirit in their lives. When the great Apostle wanted to boast a little of what God had done in him, he listed patience among with faith and love as one of the hallmarks of Christ's transformation of his soul. In a world gone blurry, Paul's injunction to us to be patient sounds like it belongs to a bygone era.

Col. 3:12 ¶ Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience

We live in a world where instant is worshiped. Coffee drinkers will understand me when I say this, some things are worth waiting for. When we meet together on a Sunday we could sing one or two songs, take up the offering, and hear a 15 minute sermonette and be done with in under an hour. This would say a lot about the soul of our congregation.

I spoke with a pastor from Hobart not that long ago who said that he had people walk out of church if he preached for more than 20 minutes! Their entire worship service now goes for under an hour. This means that the pastor has his congregation for 0.05% of the week to counteract what is for many of his congregation a week where 99.95% of it was either non-Christian or downright anti-Christian. Not surprisingly, he also lamented the parlour state of his congregation's spiritual life - questioning whether most of them were even saved or not!

In Africa, they worship together patiently. it's not uncommon for church services to go for 4 hours! Their patiencet also might say something about their spiritual hunger if not the depth of these brothers and sisters. Of course we are not saying that in order to produce spiritual depth we must have protracted church services. Rather, it seems that patience, not the length of our church services, might be the measure of what's in our heart.

If we happened to be First Century Christians, we would have become accustomed to our weekly church services meeting around an evening meal and the prayer, sharing, worshiping, and teaching going on into the night (hover your mouse over this reference to see an example of this from the New Testament Acts 20:7). It appears that these first Christians not only regarded their praying, singing, and study of the Word together as worship, but that their physical presence together with other believers for this purpose as worship as well. In other words, their patience became an act of worship.

Instant coffee. Drive-through fast-food. Microwaved 2-minute noodles. Sermonettes. Sound-bites. 20-20 cricket. SMS ... Anyone notice a trend? It seems that we are prizing "instant" and and despising patience. But if there's any doubt about this, consider what Credit Cards have done to the quaint virtue of days gone by: delayed gratification. If personal debt is a measure of Australia's patience, Australians are now the most impatient people on the planet since we have the highest levels of personal debt per capita of any nation in the world! Is there a link between our national hyper-impatience and how we view church, worship, reflection, Biblical meditation, preaching, fellowship and Christian instruction? If I had the time I would explore this further, but I know you're in a hurry to finish this article, so I'll conclude with the thought that maybe as we have become culturally hyper-impatient to do the painstaking work of methodically reading God's Word prayerfully we have missed the very thing which can empower us the most to be patient Christ-like disciples?

 

Ps. Andrew