p. 2 | BE PATIENT by W. N. G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 17, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 20.

BE PATIENT.

By W. N. G.

“LORD, why can not I follow Thee now?” This was the impatient plea of the impetuous, unconverted Peter. He was so anxious for the reward that he was loath to bide the time of Him who alone could give the reward. In this respect the Peters have always been numerous. Like many other poor, selfish mortals, Peter was anxious to have his reward in advance of fulfilling the conditions. Like him, many others imagine themselves ready to die for Christ, whereas they are not yet willing to live for Him, not willing to exemplify His life of self-denial before the world. The anxiety is for self-salvation rather than for the salvation of others.

The Lord had spoken truly when He said to Peter, “Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now,” and the experiences of that night demonstrated that Peter did not then know what it meant to follow his Master, but that Jesus knew why the ambitious yet self-deceived disciple could not follow Him then. Peter did not know what was coming that very night and the following day that would dampen his ardor and set him away in the background. He did not know of the betrayal; he did not know of the agony in Gethsemane; he did not know of the cruel arrest and the

condemnation by the council; he did not know of the forsaking by friends, or of his own base denial of the One he was then so anxious to follow. He did not know of the mockings, the scourgings, the contempt of the priests and the masses, and, last of all, the crucifixion and death. Within a few hours Peter was shown more of what it meant to follow Jesus then than he had ever dreamed of.

But the Lord gave Peter and the other disciples some very comforting assurances along with the announcement that they could not follow Him then: “Thou shalt follow Me afterwards.” “Let not your heart be troubled.” “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself.” “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” After Christ had fulfilled His mission on earth, and had ascended to the Father, and the Holy Spirit had come down upon them, then they understood why they could not follow Him when He went away. They learned then the meaning of the parable, “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work.”

Then there were two reasons why Peter could not follow the Lord on that eventful night: (1) He was not converted, he had not yet the Spirit of Christ; (2) he had not yet finished his work on earth. And the last condition was dependent upon the first. The Master Himself did not essay to go back to His reward until He had finished His work. On the night of His betrayal, in His prayer to His Father, He said, “I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” John 17:4, 5. On the cross He again declared, “It is finished.” Even His death could not be accomplished until His work was done. Until that Passover night, neither officers nor mobs were able to hurt Him, because “His hour was not yet come,”—His work was not finished. When that was completed, God “highly exalted Him,” and gave Him “a name which is above every name.” Phil. 2:9.

Now this is the lesson that the disciples must learn,—the Master has given to every man his work, and to be pining for relief, or for something to happen by which some one else shall do that work, is not the Spirit of Christ. Such a disciple never can have it said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matt. 25:23. If any disciple is longing to follow the Master in glory, and is saying, “I am ready to go at any time,” let him ask himself if he is tired of the humble life here that will lead others to God; if he is sure his work is done and his account straight.

There is more than one man walking the earth to-day in a backslidden condition who, in times past, were as confident of being able to follow the Lord anywhere as was the boastful Peter. But such need not be discouraged; Peter sought repentance and found it, together with the favor of his Lord. He received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, by which he was enabled to go on and finish his work. That same Spirit is yet available to you. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” James 4:10. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”

The Master said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work;” then shall not the disciple be willing to work in whatever calling or place his lot may be cast until the Lord says, It is enough; the work here is finished? He endured because of “the joy set before Him;” is that not sufficient incentive for the disciple? Let us all take courage, and endure to the end. The fields are yet white unto the harvest, while the laborers are few. True, there are trials all around, but “be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:8.

W. N. G.