The Patience of Christ - Glenn Conjurske
The Patience of Christ
by Glenn Conjurske
“Ye have heard of the patience of Job,” says the book of James, but how many have heard of the patience of Christ? The term is altogether unfamiliar to the modern church, though it is of great doctrinal (and practical) importance. The Bible speaks three times of the patience of Christ, though the English version completely obscures the clearest of those references. The apostle John styles himself our “companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 1:9). And Christ says, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world.” (Rev. 3:10). Lastly, Paul says, “The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ.” (II Thes. 3:5).
Yet in this last text we have a paraphrase in the King James Version, which instead of “the patience of Christ” reads, “the patient waiting for Christ.” This is in fact a double paraphrase, for even if it were legitimate to turn “patience” into “patient waiting,” we ought to read “the patient waiting of Christ,” rather than “for Christ.” It is his patience—-“the patience of Christ”—-which is spoken of, not ours. The verse speaks of “the love of God, and the patience of Christ.” As it is God’s love which is spoken of, so it is Christ’s patience.
Now as a matter of fact, the early English Bible did read “patience of Christ here.” This was the reading (with spelling variations, of course) of both Wycliffe versions, of all of Tyndale’s, of Coverdale, of Matthew, of Taverner, and of the Great Bible of 1539. The Great Bible of 1540, however, altered this to “the pacyence waytynge for Chryst.” “Pacyence” is no doubt a misprint, and the Great Bible of 1541 reads, “the pacient waytynge for Christ.” This was followed in the Bishops’ Bible and the King James Version. (The Geneva Bible had “the weating for of Christ.” “Weating” is “waiting.”)
But what is “the patience of Christ”? Patience, of course, implies waiting. It implies a state in which we are either deprived of what we do want, or afflicted with what we do not want. Now John (quoted above) associates patience, as well as tribulations, with the present state of the kingdom of Christ. And Christ singles out the keeping of the word of his patience as the thing which characterizes the faithful church. Some would refer this to the patience with which Christ met afflictions during his earthly life, and we would not exclude this, but it is in fact but a very small part of “the patience of Christ.” The whole present age is the time of his patience. It is the time of his waiting. “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, UNTIL I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Psalm 110:1). “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” (Heb. 10:12-13). The word which is here rendered “expecting” means to wait, or to await. Thus,
John 5:3—-“waiting for the moving of the water.”
Acts 17:16—-“while Paul waited for them at Athens.”
Jas. 5:7—-“the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth.”
I Peter 3:20—-“the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.”
The Lord Christ, then, in his present position at the right hand of God, is waiting. He has not yet received his kingdom. He has not yet received his rights. He has not yet received his vindication. He is, in fact, in the very same position as the souls under the altar, who cry with a loud voice saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10). It is justice for which they cry—-and not abstract justice—-not even the vindication of the cause of Christ—-but vengeance for their own blood. It is their own vindication for which they sigh and cry. To some this may seem a very strange thing, and even a very unworthy thing. But it must be remembered that these are pure and righteous souls in heaven itself who make this cry. There is nothing evil or unworthy in it. And so far as the feelings which are expressed in it, those feelings belong to our nature. They belong to that sense of righteousness which the hand of God has implanted in every man who comes into the world. When a man is traduced, or slandered, or falsely accused, he feels a need to be vindicated. He feels a need for a vindication which is just as extensive as the slander. This was undoubtedly one of the primary elements of “the patience of Job,” whose “miserable comforters” sat around him accusing him of being a hypocrite and an ungodly man. He was compelled to enter upon a long course of self-justification, but it was all to no avail. The more he defended himself, the more they condemned him. There was in reality nothing he could do but wait, and at length God vindicated him.
But God has never vindicated Christ. He left the world under a cloud, crucified as a malefactor between two thieves. Nor did the indignities and falsehoods which were heaped upon him cease with his death. The report went abroad among the Jews that his disciples had stolen away his body. To this day Jews speak of him with a sneer as “the imposter.” And to this day his name is a curse word upon the tongue of every filthy-mouthed man the world around. Can anyone suppose that his pure and holy soul does not feel all of this? But he moves not a finger to assert his rights, but waits.
But again, God has done nothing to vindicate the character of his Son. The last time the world saw him, it was on the cross between two thieves. God did not save him from the cross, in answer to the taunts of his enemies, nor did God show him to them alive after his resurrection. This must often be a source of perplexity to those who are accustomed to meditate upon holy things. Have you ever wondered why the Lord did not avail himself of the opportunity to vindicate his claims, by showing himself alive to his enemies after his resurrection? Forty days he went in and out among men on the earth before his ascension, and never showed himself to any but his faithful disciples. This would be hard to explain, apart from the doctrine of “the patience of Christ.” Indeed, before I understood the matter, it really seemed to me that God had acted very strangely, in failing to avail himself of the perfect opportunity to vindicate his Son. The course which he took too much resembled the imposture of Joseph Smith, who refused to allow a sight of his golden plates to any but a few chosen witnesses, and all of those belonging to his own inside circle. The course which God took, so far from wiping away the reproach of his Son, in reality became the occasion of adding to that reproach. He put the whole world into a position where they could say to Christ’s disciples, “If your Christ is raised from the dead, why does he not show himself to us? Let him now show himself to us, and we will believe.”
This, it will be understood, is of the same character as the taunts which were cast in his teeth while he hung upon the cross. And God responds the same way now as he did then. That is, he does nothing. Christ must wait for his vindication—-but oh, it will be complete when it comes. The last time the world saw him, he was “numbered with the transgressors,” in shame and weakness, dying (or dead) upon the cross between two thieves. The next time it sees him, it will be in power and great glory, taking vengeance upon his enemies. Meanwhile, he has done nothing to vindicate himself—-for when he does, it will be no half-way matter. He will not show himself alive to his enemies, and let them go their way. If he had showed himself to the world at the time of his resurrection, it would have been for their destruction, not for their salvation. Therefore he waits.
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the primary thing for which he waits is the subjugation of his enemies. “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Psalm 110:1). But how is this to be brought about? “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2:8-9). This eighth verse of the second Psalm was the text of many a missionary sermon in the days when most of the church was post-millennial, but the preachers did not trouble themselves to quote the ninth verse. There was no spiritual intelligence in this. This passage has nothing to do with the conversion of the heathen, but with their destruction. This is the vindication of the Lord’s Christ, whom the world has cast out and slain. It will take place when the Lord sets his king upon his holy hill of Zion—-for Psalm 2:6 is indisputably prophetic, though it speaks in the past tense. The whole scene which it presents is future, and is to be understood as follows:
“He that sitteth in the heavens SHALL laugh: the Lord SHALL have them in derision. Then SHALL he speak unto them in his wrath, [saying], Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” The word “saying” is thus inserted in both the Geneva and the Bishops’ Bibles, as our own version also inserts it between the second and third verses. Amillennialists may contend that the Christ was set as king upon his holy hill of Zion at his first coming, but even so they must acknowledge that the verse was prophetic when it was written, for Christ had not then come the first time. But it is plain enough that the verse is yet prophetic, for it is certain that he has not yet broken the nations with a rod of iron. For this he waits.
When all of this takes place it will be the full and public vindication of Christ, and is of the same character as the vindication for which the souls under the altar shall cry in Revelation 6:10. But are we to suppose that for two thousand years Christ has been at the right hand of God crying for vengeance upon his enemies? I apprehend not. I suppose his prayer has rather been of a piece with that which he uttered from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The Lord says in Psalm 2:8, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.” But I venture to suppose that he has not yet asked. This indeed, is the essence of “the patience of Christ,” that he lays aside all of his own dearest rights, and labors to secure the salvation of those who trample upon them. When he does ask, his vindication will be complete and peremptory, as the second Psalm forcefully indicates. Meanwhile, his longsuffering waits, as “the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.” (I Pet. 3:20).
This is “the patience of Christ,” for while Christ waits, God does nothing to vindicate his Son, or to avenge his death, or to assert his rights on the earth. This is a point of immense importance, for the failure to understand it betrays men into systems of Bible interpretation which are fundamentally false, and further betrays them into acting directly contrary to their proper Christian character and position, in relationship to the world.
To glance first at the false interpretation of the Bible, witness the following from B. W. Newton (father of anti-Darbyite post-tribulationism) on the interpretation of the book of Revelation: “When the Lord Jesus returned to the Father, after having been rejected on the earth, `Jehovah said unto Him, Sit thou at my right hand, until I shall have set thy foes a footstool for thy feet.’ This is a remarkable verse, quoted more frequently than any other in the New Testament, because so distinctively characteristic of the dispensation to which the New Testament belongs. It describes the Lord Jesus as seated for a season on the throne of Jehovah, waiting—-and speaks of the power of that throne as acting on His behalf;—-Jehovah’s throne acting for Christ. There is no characteristic of the present period so essentially distinctive as this;—-none which stands so decidedly in contrast with the period when Christ will assume the exercise of the authority of His own kingdom.”*
Thus “the patience of Christ” is emptied of its meaning, both for Christ and for us. The picture which Newton presents to us is not that of a man patiently waiting through long years for his inheritance, but of a man receiving that inheritance daily in small installments. For understand, what Newton here asserts is that the most distinctive characteristic of the present dispensation is Jehovah’s throne acting in Christ’s behalf—-acting on the earth, that is, to bring about the subjugation of his enemies. This is the direct opposite of the truth. The great characteristic of the present dispensation is precisely the absence of any action on God’s part to assert the claims of Christ on the earth. He that sitteth in the heavens moves not one finger, through all the time of the patience of Christ, either to assert the claims or vindicate the rights of Christ on the earth—-no more now than he did when Christ hung upon the cross. To be sure, he bears testimony to the claims and rights of his Son—-as he did when Christ was slain by his enemies, rending the rocks, the tombs, and the veil in the temple—-but he moves not a finger to make good those claims—-no more now than he did when Christ died. It is precisely this that gives the present dispensation its character, and it is precisely this which is the whole occasion for “the patience of Christ.”
Thus it will appear that I am in absolute agreement with Newton that the verse in question is “so distinctively characteristic of the dispensation to which the New Testament belongs,” but note well, this verse does not concern “Jehovah’s throne acting for Christ,” but precisely the absence of that action. It concerns Christ’s waiting for that action while it is delayed. But further, Newton fails entirely to understand the nature of the action of Jehovah’s throne in behalf of the rights of Christ. He supposes it to be a gradual thing, working little by little through the centuries, to bring about eventually the subjugation of the enemies of Christ. The quotation given above stands immediately under the chapter heading, “THE REVELATION TREATS MAINLY OF THE PRESENT DISPENSATION.” Such a principle in such a place would lead us directly to the historical interpretation of the book of Revelation, which spiritualizes the whole of it. Newton explicitly disavows that (page 86)—-for though he became a strong opponent of Darby, certainly Darby had already much influenced his prophetic views. Newton did not hold that the book of Revelation described the action of Jehovah’s throne in behalf of Christ throughout the age, but only the culmination of that action, preceding the end of the age. But thus the change of dispensation, which must in reality occur before that time of action begins, is denied, and the whole of it put into the present dispensation.
Now mark the practical consequences for us of such interpretation. If the throne of God is actively engaged in making good the rights of Christ upon the earth, why should not we be? It is precisely the program of God that gives character to the program of his saints. In the present dispensation, it is the place of Christ that determines the place of the church. “As he is, so are we in this world.” (I John 4:17). If Christ is now asserting his rights in the earth, if the throne of God is now engaged for the subjugation of Christ’s enemies, then this is the proper business of the church, as it was of Israel of old. But if Christ is patiently waiting for God to act in his behalf, this gives a completely different character to the church.
In plain English, “the patience of Christ” sets aside with one stroke the whole political agenda of the modern church. Or, to speak the simple truth of the matter, the political activity of the modern church sets aside with one stroke “the patience of Christ.” What are the purposes of the political involvement of modern Evangelicals? To assert the claims of righteousness, or the claims of the kingdom of God, or (quite commonly) to stand for our own rights. On both sides this is a complete abandonment of the patience of Christ. If God is not making good the rights of his kingdom on the earth, who has directed us to do so? But more—-if God is not maintaining the rights of Christ in the world, who gave us license to maintain our own? On the contrary, has not the Lord explicitly enjoined us not to do so? He has. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.” (Matt. 5:38-40). The political agenda of the modern church puts the disciple above its master, maintaining its own rights, while the master forbears to maintain his. The case is somewhat better with those who think to maintain the rights of Christ by the use of political force, but their course is just as unintelligent. They have mistaken the Christian position altogether. No doubt one of the primary reasons for this is that they have failed to understand the present position of their Lord. The essence of his position as well as ours is bound up in the words, “the patience of Christ.”
Glenn Conjurske