Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Be patient and make your hearts firm and steady, for the coming of the Lord is near. Like the farmer who waits patiently for the precious fruit of the earth until it receives the early and latter rain, believers are to wait steadfastly for God's promised outcome. That nearness means the end of all things is at hand with little time left to prepare, and it is seen in the signs of the times in widespread violence and lawlessness, calamities and social unrest, alarms of war and corruption, with prophecy being fulfilled and the last conflict to be short and decisive. Patience is continuing in faith through earthly trial and turmoil by looking to Jesus, confident that suffering and injustice will not continue long, because the Judge stands at the door and all, including the rich who oppressed the poor, must give full account. Faithful waiting is holy living and earnest work, refusing grudges and evil speaking, living in peace and unity, and warning others to prepare while pressing forward without slackening in unselfish service.
Patient Waiting Commanded
The verse commands believers to be patient and to make their hearts firm and steadfast because the coming of the Lord draws nigh. It calls for patient endurance and strengthening of heart while awaiting His soon return, with faith in the promised deliverance and future glory guiding believers through present earthly trials and turmoil until the promise is fulfilled. This patience means continuing in faith through trials by looking to Jesus, looking forward to seeing Christ and entering the promised glory of God's kingdom and the future glory prepared for the redeemed. It encourages confidence that the wait for the promised reward will not be long, and patience so grown sustains hope along the path toward that glory. Expectation of His return in this command calls for earnest, not slothful, work.
To establish the heart is to obey God rather than the scheming attractions of the devil and to keep all His commandments. It is to let Christ as the great Healer purify, sanctify, and redeem the whole physical and spiritual nature. It is to seek earnestly for sanctification of soul, body, and spirit that fits people as holy and undefiled subjects for His kingdom above, as members of His royal family and children of the heavenly King, with purified souls showing unfeigned love of the brethren.
The command is addressed to faithful stewards of means and to a watching people as they wait for Christ. They are to keep their hearts established in faith and live as a people watching for His near coming.
Farmer and Latter Rain
The command to be patient and firm in heart because the Lord's coming is near continues the picture of a farmer waiting for the earth's harvest. The farmer's patient wait for the earth's precious fruit illustrates the steadfast waiting required of believers. Like the farmer waiting patiently for the early and latter rain, believers are to remain steadfast as they await Christ's return and God's promised outcome.
The patience taught is connected with waiting for the latter rain. That latter rain will be more abundant than the outpouring of the Spirit in apostolic days. In that context the call to patience and firm hearts as the Lord's coming draws near means waiting for the latter rain and not condemning God's work because genuine revival is accompanied by fanaticism or human mistakes.
Near Coming Foretold
The coming of the Lord is near and the end of all things is at hand, leaving only a little time to prepare. Precious opportunities neglected now bring eternal loss and must not be allowed to pass.
That nearness is evidenced by the signs of the times, including widespread violence, lawlessness, corruption and social disorder. Calamities, social unrest and alarms of war point to approaching events and show that Christ's return is near. Prophecies are being fulfilled, the great day of God is at hand, and the last great conflict will be short and decisive. The coming is right at hand and must be believed, as testified by the corruption of the cities, disregard for killing, drunken madness from poisoned liquor, and murders allowed by those in authority who will give an account to God. Believing that nearness requires giving an account for opportunities, being aroused to see things in their real colors, doing earnest work for those ready to perish, coming to the front under unavoidable responsibility, doing everything possible to hedge the way of iniquity and remove temptation, and being a holy, sanctified people communicating the light of truth to all around.
The near coming of Christ is a truth especially applicable to the last days, though good and enlightened people in every past age have held it in prospect, with patience and firmness of heart as the fitting response. Christians in different countries reached belief that the Saviour's coming was near through studying Scripture, reflecting the call to be patient and firm in heart because the Advent is near. The near coming of Christ is a great testing truth to be proclaimed to the world and a subject ample for thought.
After the October 1844 expectation the counsel to be patient and firm in heart while awaiting the near coming applied to the believers' trial, calling them to wait and watch in faith, trusting that God had been at work and not abandoning confidence when the outcome was unclear. Facing trials they were exhorted to be patient, keep watch and remain steadfast because the Lord's coming is near, holding fast rather than abandoning confidence in the Advent movement. Those who waited, watched and prayed were strengthened by light and by faith saw Jesus ministering in the heavenly sanctuary. In the 1844 disappointment the call to patience encouraged believers not to abandon confidence in God while faith and patience were tested, but to wait, prepare themselves and remain faithful as they expected Christ's coming.
The closeness of the Lord's coming is cause for courage, hope and rejoicing. Believers are called to look up and rejoice because the Lord's coming is near.
The teaching that Jesus Christ will soon return as Lord and Saviour stands together with the Seventh-day Sabbath as truth calling for decision. Believing it brings sound conversion, leads to keeping the Sabbath and trusting in Jesus Christ, and establishes believers who learn it by reading alone without ever hearing a preacher in person.
The coming of the Saviour is near, yet many profess to believe this nearness while at the same time fighting against the law of God.
Endurance With Confident Hope
Patience is continuing in faith through earthly trials and turmoil while looking to Jesus, with hearts made firm as the coming of the Lord draws near. Faith in the promised deliverance and future glory gives a firm basis and guides believers along the path until the promise is fulfilled. That patience sustains hope while waiting for the glory prepared for the redeemed, for seeing Christ and entering the promised glory of God's kingdom. It grows through looking to Jesus and enduring trials.
The nearness of the coming encourages confidence that the wait for the promised reward will not be long. Like a farmer waiting patiently for the harvest while awaiting God's promised outcome, endurance lasts until that outcome comes. Those who cry to God for justice are to keep confidence and wait for the promised reward, assured that suffering and injustice will not continue indefinitely.
The coming is so near that the Judge stands at the door and judgment is near, so accountability to God must be fully accepted and faithfully met now. The end is near and God will judge the rich who have gained wealth through injustice and oppression of the poor. This patience includes refusing to hold grudges and living without resentment toward one another in harmony and peace, and enduring affliction as the prophets did. Its truth must shape everyday life, with faith grasping its principles and putting them into practice.
That accountability leaves no room to bite and devour one another by evil thinking, evil-surmising, and evil speaking, and flippant speech, jesting and joking are out of place. Believers are to do a work for self and for one another, laboring earnestly, kindly, and tenderly in love to help one another resist the common foe. They must be swift to hear God's counsel and slow to speak, think no evil of one another lest they be condemned, love the purchase of His blood, and seek to bless them in every way possible. Such accountability, lived out in close connection with God, balances character, outgrows superficiality, raises above everything mean and selfish and impure, gives interest for brethren, and makes life earnest, cheerful, and strong under difficulties and hopeful amid discouragements. Because time is precious and no one can afford a willful course of personal choosing away from God and contrary to His holy will, the nearness calls for humbling the heart before God, praying together, giving up one's own way and will, seeking and choosing the way of the Lord, determining to do right and be right, and breaking the snare of Satan in order to be saved from ruin.
In seeking God's help in sickness, the surrounding directions are to be followed in faith. After doing what one can and doing one's part, a person is to entrust soul and body to God and trust Him to raise them up if it is for His glory.
Holy Living and Earnest Work
Faithful waiting means being patient and firm-hearted because the Lord's coming is near, refusing to hold grudges against one another since the Judge stands at the door. It includes enduring affliction as the prophets did and letting faith grasp the principles of this truth and put them into practice in everyday life. Steadfast hope is to be shown in harmony and peace with fellow believers, living without resentment toward one another. The nearness of that coming is reason to unite rather than draw apart and to work together in the Lord's service.
Accountability to God must be fully accepted and faithfully met now because the coming of the Lord is near and the Judge stands before the door. The appointed work is therefore not to bite and devour one another by evil thinking, evil-surmising, and evil speaking, but to do a work for self and for one another, laboring earnestly, kindly, and tenderly in love to help one another resist the common foe. Flippant speech, jesting and joking are out of place, and believers must be swift to hear the counsel of God and slow to speak, thinking no evil of one another lest they be condemned. They are to love those purchased by His blood and seek to bless them in every way possible. That accountability, lived out in close connection with God, balances character, outgrows superficiality, raises above everything mean and selfish and impure, gives interest for brethren, and makes life earnest, cheerful, and strong under difficulties and hopeful amid discouragements.
Expectation of His return calls for earnest, not slothful, work, and for earnest and unselfish work for God now because the end of all things is at hand. Believers are to act in faith and work earnestly, without slackening, to strengthen and support God's work. That urgency is expressed in warning people to prepare for that day. It also means pressing forward with the work already begun and helping the work in other fields, with a pressing sense of how much remains to be done and of the need for workers who will mold the work as it should be.
The nearness of the Second Advent is to shape daily life, speech, prayer, and faithful witness, with those who know the truth practising it and letting its light shine in their lives. Readiness includes parents helping their children develop Christlike characters and preparing the way for the Lord through godly example as well as clear words. There is to be no delay in coming to Jesus and seeking strength and wisdom to turn from sin, for the Lord's coming is near and right at hand and must be believed. Because the Lord draweth nigh and judgment is near, time is precious and no one can afford a willful course of personal choosing away from God and contrary to His holy will, but all are called to humble the heart before God, pray together, give up their own way and will, seek to know the way of the Lord, choose the way of the Lord, and determine to do right and be right in order to break the snare of Satan and be saved from ruin. Believing that nearness, testified by corruption of the cities, disregard for killing, drunken madness from poisoned liquor, and murders allowed by those in authority who will give an account to God, requires giving an account for opportunities, being aroused to see things in their real colors, coming to the front with unavoidable responsibility, doing everything possible to hedge the way of iniquity and remove temptation, doing earnest work for those ready to perish, and being a holy, sanctified people communicating the light of truth to all around.
Be patient and make your hearts firm and steady, for the coming of the Lord is near. Like the farmer who waits patiently for the precious fruit of the earth until it receives the early and latter rain, believers are to wait steadfastly for God's promised outcome. That nearness means the end of all things is at hand with little time left to prepare, and it is seen in the signs of the times in widespread violence and lawlessness, calamities and social unrest, alarms of war and corruption, with prophecy being fulfilled and the last conflict to be short and decisive. Patience is continuing in faith through earthly trial and turmoil by looking to Jesus, confident that suffering and injustice will not continue long, because the Judge stands at the door and all, including the rich who oppressed the poor, must give full account. Faithful waiting is holy living and earnest work, refusing grudges and evil speaking, living in peace and unity, and warning others to prepare while pressing forward without slackening in unselfish service.
Patient Waiting Commanded
The verse commands believers to be patient and to make their hearts firm and steadfast because the coming of the Lord draws nigh. It calls for patient endurance and strengthening of heart while awaiting His soon return, with faith in the promised deliverance and future glory guiding believers through present earthly trials and turmoil until the promise is fulfilled. This patience means continuing in faith through trials by looking to Jesus, looking forward to seeing Christ and entering the promised glory of God's kingdom and the future glory prepared for the redeemed. It encourages confidence that the wait for the promised reward will not be long, and patience so grown sustains hope along the path toward that glory. Expectation of His return in this command calls for earnest, not slothful, work.
To establish the heart is to obey God rather than the scheming attractions of the devil and to keep all His commandments. It is to let Christ as the great Healer purify, sanctify, and redeem the whole physical and spiritual nature. It is to seek earnestly for sanctification of soul, body, and spirit that fits people as holy and undefiled subjects for His kingdom above, as members of His royal family and children of the heavenly King, with purified souls showing unfeigned love of the brethren.
The command is addressed to faithful stewards of means and to a watching people as they wait for Christ. They are to keep their hearts established in faith and live as a people watching for His near coming.
Farmer and Latter Rain
The command to be patient and firm in heart because the Lord's coming is near continues the picture of a farmer waiting for the earth's harvest. The farmer's patient wait for the earth's precious fruit illustrates the steadfast waiting required of believers. Like the farmer waiting patiently for the early and latter rain, believers are to remain steadfast as they await Christ's return and God's promised outcome.
The patience taught is connected with waiting for the latter rain. That latter rain will be more abundant than the outpouring of the Spirit in apostolic days. In that context the call to patience and firm hearts as the Lord's coming draws near means waiting for the latter rain and not condemning God's work because genuine revival is accompanied by fanaticism or human mistakes.
Near Coming Foretold
The coming of the Lord is near and the end of all things is at hand, leaving only a little time to prepare. Precious opportunities neglected now bring eternal loss and must not be allowed to pass.
That nearness is evidenced by the signs of the times, including widespread violence, lawlessness, corruption and social disorder. Calamities, social unrest and alarms of war point to approaching events and show that Christ's return is near. Prophecies are being fulfilled, the great day of God is at hand, and the last great conflict will be short and decisive. The coming is right at hand and must be believed, as testified by the corruption of the cities, disregard for killing, drunken madness from poisoned liquor, and murders allowed by those in authority who will give an account to God. Believing that nearness requires giving an account for opportunities, being aroused to see things in their real colors, doing earnest work for those ready to perish, coming to the front under unavoidable responsibility, doing everything possible to hedge the way of iniquity and remove temptation, and being a holy, sanctified people communicating the light of truth to all around.
The near coming of Christ is a truth especially applicable to the last days, though good and enlightened people in every past age have held it in prospect, with patience and firmness of heart as the fitting response. Christians in different countries reached belief that the Saviour's coming was near through studying Scripture, reflecting the call to be patient and firm in heart because the Advent is near. The near coming of Christ is a great testing truth to be proclaimed to the world and a subject ample for thought.
After the October 1844 expectation the counsel to be patient and firm in heart while awaiting the near coming applied to the believers' trial, calling them to wait and watch in faith, trusting that God had been at work and not abandoning confidence when the outcome was unclear. Facing trials they were exhorted to be patient, keep watch and remain steadfast because the Lord's coming is near, holding fast rather than abandoning confidence in the Advent movement. Those who waited, watched and prayed were strengthened by light and by faith saw Jesus ministering in the heavenly sanctuary. In the 1844 disappointment the call to patience encouraged believers not to abandon confidence in God while faith and patience were tested, but to wait, prepare themselves and remain faithful as they expected Christ's coming.
The closeness of the Lord's coming is cause for courage, hope and rejoicing. Believers are called to look up and rejoice because the Lord's coming is near.
The teaching that Jesus Christ will soon return as Lord and Saviour stands together with the Seventh-day Sabbath as truth calling for decision. Believing it brings sound conversion, leads to keeping the Sabbath and trusting in Jesus Christ, and establishes believers who learn it by reading alone without ever hearing a preacher in person.
The coming of the Saviour is near, yet many profess to believe this nearness while at the same time fighting against the law of God.
Endurance With Confident Hope
Patience is continuing in faith through earthly trials and turmoil while looking to Jesus, with hearts made firm as the coming of the Lord draws near. Faith in the promised deliverance and future glory gives a firm basis and guides believers along the path until the promise is fulfilled. That patience sustains hope while waiting for the glory prepared for the redeemed, for seeing Christ and entering the promised glory of God's kingdom. It grows through looking to Jesus and enduring trials.
The nearness of the coming encourages confidence that the wait for the promised reward will not be long. Like a farmer waiting patiently for the harvest while awaiting God's promised outcome, endurance lasts until that outcome comes. Those who cry to God for justice are to keep confidence and wait for the promised reward, assured that suffering and injustice will not continue indefinitely.
The coming is so near that the Judge stands at the door and judgment is near, so accountability to God must be fully accepted and faithfully met now. The end is near and God will judge the rich who have gained wealth through injustice and oppression of the poor. This patience includes refusing to hold grudges and living without resentment toward one another in harmony and peace, and enduring affliction as the prophets did. Its truth must shape everyday life, with faith grasping its principles and putting them into practice.
That accountability leaves no room to bite and devour one another by evil thinking, evil-surmising, and evil speaking, and flippant speech, jesting and joking are out of place. Believers are to do a work for self and for one another, laboring earnestly, kindly, and tenderly in love to help one another resist the common foe. They must be swift to hear God's counsel and slow to speak, think no evil of one another lest they be condemned, love the purchase of His blood, and seek to bless them in every way possible. Such accountability, lived out in close connection with God, balances character, outgrows superficiality, raises above everything mean and selfish and impure, gives interest for brethren, and makes life earnest, cheerful, and strong under difficulties and hopeful amid discouragements. Because time is precious and no one can afford a willful course of personal choosing away from God and contrary to His holy will, the nearness calls for humbling the heart before God, praying together, giving up one's own way and will, seeking and choosing the way of the Lord, determining to do right and be right, and breaking the snare of Satan in order to be saved from ruin.
In seeking God's help in sickness, the surrounding directions are to be followed in faith. After doing what one can and doing one's part, a person is to entrust soul and body to God and trust Him to raise them up if it is for His glory.
Holy Living and Earnest Work
Faithful waiting means being patient and firm-hearted because the Lord's coming is near, refusing to hold grudges against one another since the Judge stands at the door. It includes enduring affliction as the prophets did and letting faith grasp the principles of this truth and put them into practice in everyday life. Steadfast hope is to be shown in harmony and peace with fellow believers, living without resentment toward one another. The nearness of that coming is reason to unite rather than draw apart and to work together in the Lord's service.
Accountability to God must be fully accepted and faithfully met now because the coming of the Lord is near and the Judge stands before the door. The appointed work is therefore not to bite and devour one another by evil thinking, evil-surmising, and evil speaking, but to do a work for self and for one another, laboring earnestly, kindly, and tenderly in love to help one another resist the common foe. Flippant speech, jesting and joking are out of place, and believers must be swift to hear the counsel of God and slow to speak, thinking no evil of one another lest they be condemned. They are to love those purchased by His blood and seek to bless them in every way possible. That accountability, lived out in close connection with God, balances character, outgrows superficiality, raises above everything mean and selfish and impure, gives interest for brethren, and makes life earnest, cheerful, and strong under difficulties and hopeful amid discouragements.
Expectation of His return calls for earnest, not slothful, work, and for earnest and unselfish work for God now because the end of all things is at hand. Believers are to act in faith and work earnestly, without slackening, to strengthen and support God's work. That urgency is expressed in warning people to prepare for that day. It also means pressing forward with the work already begun and helping the work in other fields, with a pressing sense of how much remains to be done and of the need for workers who will mold the work as it should be.
The nearness of the Second Advent is to shape daily life, speech, prayer, and faithful witness, with those who know the truth practising it and letting its light shine in their lives. Readiness includes parents helping their children develop Christlike characters and preparing the way for the Lord through godly example as well as clear words. There is to be no delay in coming to Jesus and seeking strength and wisdom to turn from sin, for the Lord's coming is near and right at hand and must be believed. Because the Lord draweth nigh and judgment is near, time is precious and no one can afford a willful course of personal choosing away from God and contrary to His holy will, but all are called to humble the heart before God, pray together, give up their own way and will, seek to know the way of the Lord, choose the way of the Lord, and determine to do right and be right in order to break the snare of Satan and be saved from ruin. Believing that nearness, testified by corruption of the cities, disregard for killing, drunken madness from poisoned liquor, and murders allowed by those in authority who will give an account to God, requires giving an account for opportunities, being aroused to see things in their real colors, coming to the front with unavoidable responsibility, doing everything possible to hedge the way of iniquity and remove temptation, doing earnest work for those ready to perish, and being a holy, sanctified people communicating the light of truth to all around.