| The Christian Life | April 1945 |
“For Yet a Little While”
“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.”—Hebrews 10:35-38
THE elements of faith and patience are most essential to a victorious Christian life. Faith in God and in the wisdom of His providences, even though they may at times seem to frown upon us, gives strength to endure whatever He deems to be best suited to our highest spiritual welfare. Faith in God’s times and seasons, and a patient waiting for their outworking in our lives, as well as their application in a larger sense to His plan of salvation, are also essential. It is from this standpoint particularly that in our text the apostle urges upon us the importance of “confidence,” of “faith,” and of “patience.”
The Scriptures as well as experience bear testimony to the failure which often results from a lack of constancy in Christian endeavor. It is of this that we are reminded by Jesus in the parable of the Sower. In this parable the seed of truth is shown to fall in four different places—by the wayside; upon a rock; among thorns; and on good ground. That which fell by the wayside was trodden under foot and carried away by the birds—it did not grow at all. That which fell upon the rock and among thorns, showed signs of life, but there was no constancy of growth. Only that which fell upon “good ground” really grew to maturity, and of this the Master said that it brought forth fruit “with patience.”—Luke 8:5-15
The “wayside” believers are those to whom the truth sounds pleasing. It is just what they like to hear. How many times all the Lord’s people have met these good folks. When they are told about the Kingdom blessings they agree that it is the best message they have ever heard. They give the impression of enthusiastic and deep interest, but they never come into the truth. They were enthusiastic, but there was no depth of heart-soil in which the seed could take root. Their interest was but a passing fancy, and Satan saw to it that there was something more alluring at hand to claim their attention.
The seed which fell upon the rock fared better. There was some soil there, but it was shallow. The seed germinated and showed signs of growth. But the soil having little depth, it lacked moisture and the young plant withered under the heat of the sun. Thus we have another class of believers illustrated. These actually accept the truth. They profess to be followers of the Master, but they are “shallow” of heart in that they are unable to endure the trials and difficulties of the narrow way. They are zealous for a while, and then their interest begins to wane, and finally you see no more of them.
Those of us who are “old-timers” in the truth may congratulate ourselves that we are not among those constituting this class. Some of us have been in the narrow way for five years, some ten, some twenty, and perhaps some fifty years. This fact may easily give us a sense of security; but if it does, it is a false security. The length of time we have endured means victory only if we continue to endure unto the end. (Matt. 10:22; 24:13) One might run well for many years, and yet turn out to be like the plant which grew from the seed that fell upon the rock.
Then there was the seed which fell among thorns. Here the soil was deeper, but the young plant was choked by the sturdier growth of the thorns. This, Jesus explained, shows how some believers permit the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches to turn their hearts and minds away from the service of the Lord. How true this is in the experience of many well-meaning Christians! Let us be on guard that it does not become true of us!
Faithfulness Unto Death
To continue faithful is one of the great tests upon every Christian! Those who pass the test are the “good ground” Christians of the parable. It is ‘a test which enters into all that we endeavor to do and to be as Christians. For example, we may start out at the beginning of the year fully resolved that we will study the truth a certain amount each week; that we will attend the meetings regularly; that we will distribute a certain amount of free tracts bearing the Kingdom message; that we will use a certain amount of our means to promote the truth, and that we will be faithful in prayer and in doing all we can for the brethren.
But how easy it is to become indifferent with respect to one or even all of these things which we know we should do and have resolved to do! We may carry out good intentions fairly well for the first month, but then begin to relax just a little—not much at first, perhaps, but gradually. If we are not watchful and really in earnest, all the good things which we determined to do at the beginning of the year may be almost entirely neglected by the middle of the year.
What many have found true with respect to the good hopes we have at the beginning of the year can easily be true of our Christian life as a whole. In our text Paul calls our attention to this, giving the remedy, saying, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” The “will of God” here referred to is evidently our consecration, our covenant to do the Lord’s will in our every thought, word and deed. But entering into this covenant is only the beginning of the Christian life. After this comes the testing of our faith and zeal and love. It is only when we patiently endure the trials which divine wisdom deems best, and in the face of difficulties continue on faithfully in the narrow way, that we may hope to receive the fulfillment of God’s promise to give us a crown of life.
The Hebrews to whom Paul wrote the admonishing message of our text, started out well. When they first believed they labored faithfully for the brethren; they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods. Paul wrote, “We desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end.” (Heb. 6:10-12) When they manifestly had failed to show this same diligence the apostle wrote, “Call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions.”—Heb. 10:32
How much we all need to take these admonitions to heart! How does our zeal for God, for the truth, for the brethren, compare with that which fired us with enthusiasm when we first came into the truth and consecrated ourselves to do God’s will? If we have less zeal today, it means either that the heat of trials have had a withering effect upon us, or else that we have permitted the cares of this world to interfere with the carrying out of our consecration. In either event, we “have need of patience,” lest we “draw back” to the point where the Lord will have no pleasure in us.—Heb. 10:38
The Test of Waiting
David said, “My times are in Thy hand.” (Psalm 31:15) This is the proper attitude for every servant of God. But it is not always easy thus to be wholly resigned to God’s will. We are so prone to measure time by our own short span of life that we are often impatient in our waiting on the Lord. Our faith is time-tested in many of our experiences of life. It is tested in our waiting for God to answer our prayers. It is tested by the necessity of waiting for visible results to reward our Christian efforts. It is tested by our waiting for God to lift the burden which we feel is too heavy for us to bear.
In the chapter following the one from which our text is taken, Paul presents a whole list of the ancient worthies who lived and died by faith. One cannot read the Old Testament accounts of how these devout souls endured without being impressed with the fact that time entered prominently into the testing of many of them. They had no continuing city, but they sought one to come. Yes, they, sought it, but they did not find it! Instead, they died in faith not having received the fulfillment of many of the promises God made to them.
We may well draw a lesson from Noah’s long and patient service of God “while the ark was preparing.” (Gen. 6:3; I Pet. 3:20) Surely Noah must have had wonderful enduring qualities! Then there was Abraham. How he needed to exercise patience while waiting for God to fulfill promises made to him. For years and years both Abraham and Sarah waited for the birth of Isaac, yet his faith “staggered not.”—Rom. 4:20
Moses waited on the Lord forty years in the land of Midian. He served the Lord another forty years in the wilderness under the most trying circumstances. David, although anointed to be king of Israel, waited patiently for years until it was God’s due time to give him the throne. And. most of the time David waited, he was being persecuted and hunted by Saul whose place he was anointed to take as king of Israel. Once he had an opportunity to kill Saul and bring his waiting and persecution to an end; but David declined to do so, knowing that God had said, “Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” (I Chron. 11:22; Psa. 105:15) David was willing to wait on the Lord.
What has been true of God’s people as individuals has been true of them as a whole. In the development of His plan God has in large measure, wisely concealed the time element until after events began to be fulfilled. How faithfully and patiently the prophets of old looked and waited for the Messiah and for the establishment of His Kingdom. They were all used of the Lord to prophesy concerning the Messiah and His Kingdom. There was much that they didn’t understand about the Messianic purpose, but they did know that the Messiah was coming, and that Israel would be blessed under His reign. They lived and died inspired by this hope.
Even when Jesus did come, the time element of the Kingdom was concealed. The disciples inquired, “When shall these things be?” and again, “Wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?” (Matt. 24:3; Acts 1:6) Prior to His death and resurrection Jesus Himself did not know the time of His second advent and the establishment of His Kingdom, and said so to His disciples. (Matt. 24:36) True, there are Scriptures which show that at this end of the age the “brethren” will not be in darkness “that that day should overtake them as a thief.” (I Thess. 5:1-3) This, however, proved to be largely a matter of identifying events which indicated that the day of the Lord had come. It did not promise ability to know in advance the time of its coming.
“Time or Manner of Time”
An interesting sidelight on the element of time in the divine plan is brought to our attention by the Apostle Peter. He tells us that the prophets sought diligently to know “what manner of time the Spirit which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” (I Pet. 1:11) The Prophet Daniel foretold the sufferings of Christ, the cutting off in death of Messiah the Prince. In connection with this prophecy Daniel was given a time measurement of seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety days.
Daniel was also given another vision of twenty-three hundred days in which there is a clear implication of much suffering for God’s people. According to Peter, the prophets who knew of these prophecies—all those subsequent to the captivity—endeavored to ascertain the “manner of time” referred to by these “days” and “weeks.”
Perhaps they were acquainted with the vision God gave to Ezekiel in which a time measurement was revealed to Him upon the basis of reckoning a day for a year. (Ezek. 4:3-6) Knowing of this, Daniel and the subsequent prophets might well wonder whether or not this was the manner in which the seventy weeks were supposed to be reckoned. Apparently many of the devout Jews had concluded that such was the case, and it was probably on account of this that so many were in expectation of Him.—Luke 3:15
The seventy weeks were actually four hundred and ninety years, dating from a decree issued by King Artaxerxes to rebuild the city and walls of Jerusalem. This was in 454 B.C. The prophecy set off the seventieth week as in a sense separate from others, yet a part of them. It indicated that the Messiah would come at the close of the sixty-ninth week, and would be cut off in the midst of the seventieth.
It was fulfilled just this way, but those living during that long period did not understand it. This time clock helped to arouse the devout Jews at the first advent to the fact that the Messiah was due, yet they were disappointed because they did not understand the prophecy clearly enough to realize what was meant by the Messiah being “cut off” in the midst of the seventieth week, but “not for Himself.”
Even the disciples, who had accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah, did not understand the strange turn of events which resulted in the death of Jesus. Their hopes were in a measure revived when Jesus manifested Himself to them after His resurrection, but they were still concerned regarding the time when the Messianic promises of God would be fulfilled. “Wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?” they inquired.
Jesus explained that it was not given for them to know the times and seasons, that the Father was keeping this knowledge to Himself, revealing it to His people as such information became a necessity to them. He told the disciples to tarry at Jerusalem until they received power from on high. They did this, and at Pentecost their waiting was rewarded by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Things to Come
Jesus had promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would show them “things to come.” It did! The apostles, who by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit were given prophetic vision, foretold the great apostasy which would develop in the church after their death, and recorded much valuable information concerning events which were to occur at the close of the age when it would be the due time for the Master’s second presence.
But while they were shown things to come, it was not revealed to them when they were coming. It is noteworthy that in the apostolic writings there are no time prophecies given. Apparently God did not want His people to know in advance just how long the Gospel Age would be, nor when the Kingdom would be established. Paul wrote, “Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”—I Thess. 5:1-3
Paul doesn’t indicate that there was no need to write of the times and seasons because the brethren at Thessalonica already knew them. Rather, it was because they knew that the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night, hence that no one could know in advance, and to attempt to write about it would be merely speculation. Paul no doubt knew that Jesus had said it would be essential to be on the alert and watchful in order to know of His presence when He did return.
The viewpoint of the apostles and other disciples at the beginning of the age was that the time was short. “The night is far spent,” said Paul, “the day is at hand.” (Rom. 13:12) Yes, the long nighttime of sin and darkness had already been spreading its pall over the earth for more than four thousand years when these words were written. This was two-thirds of the entire night of six thousand years. From God’s standpoint it was “far spent,” but from the human standpoint it would have been most discouraging for those early Christians to have realized that nearly nineteen centuries were to elapse before their Master returned.
“Faithful unto Death”
Yes, the time was short, even in the apostle’s day, but it was long enough for every disciple of Christ to be “faithful unto death.” In our text the apostle writes, “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” (Heb.10:37) But that “little while” of waiting put a test of endurance upon every believer in the early church. That “little while” is still testing the consecrated today. We still have need of patience that after making our consecration we may live up faithfully to its terms even unto death. The far end of the “little while” that is still before us will not be reached until our sacrifice is wholly consumed.
In order to encourage the Hebrews with the thought that the return of their Lord would occur on time, Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:2-4 where the prophet tells of a vision which was to be made plain upon tables. The prophet hints that this vision would seem to tarry, but would not actually do so. Only from the human standpoint has it ever seemed to God’s people that His plan has been slow of development. From the divine standpoint there has been no delay, no tarrying. God has kindly veiled the eyes of His people concerning the full length of time prior to the establishment of His Kingdom, and has allowed the “little while” of waiting to test their patience and their faith.
“At The End”
The prophet assures that the vision which would seem to tarry would “at the end,” speak with clarity and truthfulness. (Hab. 2:3) We are now in that “time of the end,” and the vision has spoken, and Oh, what rich blessings have come to God’s people as a result! The presence of Christ has been revealed. The work of harvest has been outlined to the saints, and they have zealously engaged in it. All the precious truths, in fact, and the privileges we enjoy in God’s service, are ours because we are in the “time of the end.”
But with all the marvelous clarity of the truth with which the Lord has favored His people at this end of the age, we still do not have full knowledge of the time yet remaining. When we would inquire concerning the exact date for the complete glorification of the church, and the full setting up of the Kingdom, it is as if the Lord again, answers, “It is not given to you to know the times and the seasons.”
We know that we are at the close of the age. We know that the Gentile Times have ended, and every day brings additional evidence that the kings have had their day. But how long or how short that “little while” of waiting may yet be, we do not know. So we still have need of patience! And true Christian patience involves more than an inactive waiting for the consummation of our hope. This improper attitude is illustrated in the parable of the Virgins. Here it is shown that while the Bridegroom tarried, the virgins all slumbered and slept.
While this parable had a fulfillment at the time of the Miller movement when the saints expected Christ to return in 1844, it also serves well to illustrate the common failing of the Lord’s people to become indifferent to their consecration when their hopes are not realized as soon as they expect. Let us be on guard against going to sleep, spiritually, in this most wonderful time of the church’s experience.
Spiritual drowsiness comes upon a Christian in very subtle ways. It is manifested in decreasing appreciation of the truth; loss of desire to study the Scriptures; indifference to the privileges of meeting with the Lord’s people; a veering toward the world and the enjoyment of worldly pleasure; a lack of desire to be active in the spread of the truth, and in other ways. Any or all of these symptoms may readily result from the seeming deferment of our hopes—a tarrying, as it were, of the vision.
This spiritual lethargy is described in our text as a drawing back from zealously fulfilling the terms of our consecration. What is the remedy? The apostle says it is “confidence,” “faith,” and “patience.” Yes, our confidence in God and in the truth should be so strong that we will never doubt the wisdom of the manner in which He is dealing with us. Our faith should lay hold so firmly upon His promises that we will never doubt their ultimate fulfillment. And our patience should enable us to wait and watch and labor and pray, until we have completed our sacrifice faithfully, even unto death.